For Good I: Breakaway
by Aleine Skyfire
Summary: Sometimes, just one person can change your life forever - not even Team Lightyear is exempt from this fact. "Call it... your first, best destiny." Next Gen fic.
1. Prologue: A Time of Heroes

Outer Space.

It's timeless out there – time _passes_, but has little _meaning_ until sentient beings ascribe significance. We live _inside_ Time, and our finite minds cannot function without it. Those stars have been shining since long before you and I were born, and they will continue to shine long after we are gone. They bear silent testimony to an intelligence that created Time itself – they've been there since the beginning, and they'll continue to the end.

If _you_ were to go into Outer Space yourself, you'd be confronted with the unfathomably majestic grandeur of the heavens.

What would happen if you _could_? What would happen if you could travel not only across Outer Space, but across _Time_?

_What would happen if you couldn't go home?_

This story takes place far into the future of the universe, and yet, it is already over. Nothing we can do can change it. What is meant to be will happen, regardless of what we do.

It is a story of plots and dreams, fear and courage, obsession and sacrifice, loss and love, betrayal and camaraderie and family, death and life. It is a timeless saga of Good versus Evil – the kind that draws us into itself, so that we laugh when the heroes celebrate and weep with them when they mourn.

It is the story of the closing of one age, and the dawn of a new.

**==_For Good I_==**

_**Watermark**_

**==Prologue==**

**A Time of Heroes**

Through the infinite void drifts a pristine white starship, at once a commanding presence and a silent sentinel. It is the distinctive shape of an _Andromeda_-class StarCruiser. A number gleams in the light of the nearest star… _42_.

This is no mere Universe-Protection Unit patrol craft. This is the renowned StarCruiser 42 of the legendary Team Lightyear.

Team Lightyear. It has become a household term.

When Evil is afoot, Team Lightyear is _guaranteed_ to defeat it.

For them, it's merely another day in the life.

They are everywhere, be it in-person or in the media. In a scant nine months, they have become the most famous team of law-enforcement officers anywhere in the galaxy.

_They are The __**Best**_.

Children and teenagers revere these Space Rangers as much as they do their sports heroes and movie stars. It's not _un_common for a boy to try to leap from the platform of his tree-house with the excuse that he's imitating Buzz Lightyear, or a girl desperately trying to ghost herself straight through a locked door while pretending to be Mira Nova. These children also envy Booster Munchapper's incredible strength and XR's endless gadgetry. Teenage girls swoon over mere _magazine covers_ of Captain Lightyear, while teenage boys wish they were old enough to woo Princess Nova.

Captain Buzz Lightyear. _He is a __**legend**_. Even in his cadet years, the galaxy knew that the young human was bound for something special. Nineteen years later… He is _fantastic_. His unwavering dedication to law and justice is a legend in itself, as are his sharpshooting and piloting skills. Sometimes, it's hard to distinguish the line between fact and fiction – the two are so _ridiculously_ close to each other. He's also an unflagging optimist – in the darkest storms, he can always find a ray of sunlight.

Princess Mira Nova. The beautiful, spirited woman who, one day, will be crowned Queen of the planet Tangea would far rather keep the life she has chosen as a Space Ranger. And she is _good_ – already almost as good as Lightyear. The ghosting abilities of her race make her an invaluable asset, and her common sense is a saving grace for her team, counterpointing the Captain's recklessness. And more than anything else, she's determined to do what needs to be done, even at the cost of her own life.

Booster Sinclair Munchapper. The young Jo-adian went directly from being a Star Command janitor to a Space Ranger, with _no_ training whatsoever at Milky Way Academy – a testimony less to his skills and more to his big heart. The "gentle giant" is completely trustworthy and always ready to mediate between his teammates when bickering breaks out.

XR. The acronym stands for "eXperimental Ranger," and while the little robot is not the first of his kind, he is the first to succeed in being a law-enforcement officer (although his morals _could_ be questioned). Those who _try_ to _accurately_ describe XR fail: his complex character – perhaps, ironically, more "human" than his organic teammates – defies all accurate description. It's much easier to simply read about him and draw your own conclusions.

These unique individuals together form Team Lightyear, the toughest weapon Star Command has to throw at the likes of the Evil Emperor Zurg. Even the children know that when Team Lightyear is called out, those low-down bad-guys are going to wish they'd stayed in bed. The team is not invincible, of course, but they've never lost a battle yet.

The galaxy will need their strength in the days to come. You can't even see the faint, dark outline of the approaching storm – but it _is_ coming.

It is time for the heroes to rise up.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I do not own BLoSC (unfortunately), and neither I do own anything _Star Wars_ (points to excerpt in the next chapter) except for merchandise… xD

WOW, the re-mastering of _Watermark_ has finally begun! There are several people whom I'd like to thank for their help and/or inspiration in this endeavor:

- **B_complex:** thanks for everything, coz! Some of the music you've linked me to was great for background, and your explanation of matrices was so incredibly helpful! (Plus, when YOU get excited about something, I KNOW it's GOOD. xDDD)

- **SLWatson **and** KRWalker:** your _One Hundred Days_ has been a constant source of inspiration – right from Day One! ;D Thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting me read it.

- **Saron **and** KJ:** you two already know how much I appreciate you for your feedback and friendship. Thanks so much for always being there – half the reason I'm still here is because of _you_.

- **Kila:** thanks for the time that you _did_ spend beta-ing me. You helped me find my feet in the fandom, and I really appreciate that. And don't worry, I'll work on that little Mira scene!

- **Qorg:** your BotE has inspired me to make my _own_ fic better! And you were right about those paragraphs! ;D

- **Queen S of Randomness 016:** thanks for your regular reviews! They always brighten my day!

Hmm, I feel a bit like Mira now… XDDD…

**I will be uploading rewritten chapters once a week, probably on Wednesdays or Thursdays. However, if you still want to be able to read the old version of this story, you can go to my blog: http://acrossstars(dot)blogspot(dot)com/  
**

**I'll be uploading the whole story there.**

And, as always…

**PLEASE REVIEW!!**


	2. Chapter 1: Burning

**==Chapter 1==**

**Burning**

"_Systems malfunction-function…"_

– XR, _The Adventure Begins_

* * *

_Bridge of StarCruiser __**42**__ in Gamma Quadrant: Sector One: Capital System, 4:49pm CCT_

Buzz sank back in his chair and sighed as he closed his eyes. Another marital dispute over road maps solved, and Team Lightyear was eleven minutes from ending their shift.

"Can't we just call it a day?" he heard XR ask hopefully.

Buzz's eyes opened – _slowly_, a sure sign that he was being dragged down by the monotony of patrol-duty as much as his robot rookie. "_Anything_ could happen in eleven minutes, Ranger." It took every ounce of his worn-down willpower to stifle a yawn. "Stay frosty."

Mira gave Buzz a knowing smirk that plainly said _hypocrite_. He glared right back at her, though the glare wasn't at full strength. One full week of patrol-duty could sap a veteran ranger quicker than a month of war – not that Buzz had ever fought in a _true_ war himself, but that's what Commander Nebula had once told him. _**Boy**__, is he ever right_.

"Yeah, a hornet attack could come and go easy in eleven minutes," Booster nodded. _Good ole Booster_.

"It's almost ten minutes now," XR amended, checking his Rolex.

Mira lifted an eyebrow, wondering where the 'bot had gotten such a nice watch, then figuring that the issue was best left alone.

Buzz gave up all attempts at being professional and said, "Just hang in there, team. We're almost done."

* * *

_Control room of SCRDW Complex, Jupiter moon Io, Gamma Quadrant: Sector One: Capital System, 4:49 CCT_

"78, are we good to go?"

Defected Brainpod 78 didn't look up from his console as he answered his boss, Jenkin Matthis, PhD. "We're waiting for the transformation and vector matrices to load up, Doc. Should take sixty seconds, and then we can let 'er rip."

Dr. Matthis nodded and turned to the two women on his team, Tangean Lt. Jeri Silvastra and Rhizomian Kada Fernon, M.S. They were busy double-checking the coordinates they would key into the vector matrix to create the wormhole. "Jeri? Kada?"

"We'll be ready when 78 is," Jeri said confidently. Kada merely smiled, her golden eyes sparkling with excitement.

These four scientists had been living together on the lonely Io for the past seven months as the team for the Star Command Research & Development of Wormholes. Over the months, they had been developing a prototype for an advanced wormhole-creating machine. Current wormhole-creators could only form wormholes from one point in Outer Space to another, _never_ on a planet or moon to another planet or moon. The gravity fields always distorted the wormholes, but the team had worked tirelessly to overcome that obstacle.

Now, for the first time, that machine was about to be tested.

"90percent… 91… 92… blah-blah-blah, yada-yada-yada, tada-tada-tada… 99percent… _100percent!_" 78 cried. "Matrix fully uploaded, all systems operational! We're a go!"

Kada keyed in the coordinates, briefly touched the earpiece of her headset while confirming that all commands were entered and awaiting the final switch, and gave Dr. Matthis a double thumbs-up. "Let's rock!"

The senior scientist nodded, clasping his hands behind his back in a stance reminiscent of a naval commander. "Commence ignition."

Lt. Silvastra began the countdown. "Ignition commencing in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… _Now_." 78 pulled _the_ lever back.

* * *

_4:51 CCT_

Below the small control room and visible through the huge transparisteel window above the consoles was the room commonly known as "the Theater." Here stood the huge complex of tall mirrors and the machinery that rotated them: the Land-Based Wormhole Complex – better known as the LBWC. The method of overcoming gravity fields was straightforward in theory, if not so easy in practice: the LBWC worked like a giant telegraph. Simply put, the machine literally _took apart_ the traveling object or person, transmitted it through the wormhole, and reconstructed it upon arrival at destination. Current wormhole-creators simply sucked their travelers through whole, but this was something that could not be done within a gravitational field of planetary strength.

For this first test, CB-38, a cambot, was being sent from the Theater to a location halfway around the moon. The laptop-sized 'bot was really a fifth member of the team – or at least, that is what he always asserted.

As 78 pulled back the lever, the mirrors closed around CB, who stood in the center of the machine. He glanced around him nervously. "This won't hurt, right?" he asked in an edgy tone.

His question was answered a moment later as he felt himself being pulled apart at the atomic level. Even cambots were equipped with pain receptors, and those receptors registered _violently_ at that moment. He let out a shrill, mechanical scream to which his teammates were helpless to respond. Once the process commenced, it could not be stopped.

For a few terrifying moments, CB-38 ceased to exist…

* * *

_4:52 CCT_

"Doctor!" Kada shouted. Matthis was at her side in an instant.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"The wormhole!" Jeri replied. "We must have miscalculated – it's taking CB to Capital Planet!"

"WHAT??" 78 cried.

"See for yourself!" Kada told him, pointing to the readouts on her console.

"Sweet mother of Venus!" Matthis breathed. "Pull him back as fast as possible!" _This is __**not**__ good_.

Oh, if only he knew.

* * *

_Pain._

_It makes up your entire universe._

_If you could see, you would see trillions upon trillions of shards of light burning your eyes. If you could hear, you would hear a roar and a shriek deafening your ears._

_But you __**can't**__ see. You __**can't**__ hear._

_Your body had ceased to be. It simply… __**isn't**__._

_And you are fully conscious of it._

_You felt it being __**torn apart**__, piece by piece, atom by atom…_

_Until here you are, __**wherever**__ you are, the fragments of your body __**scattered**__._

_You don't know how you can apparently still live __**outside**__ of your shattered body, but obviously you __**do**__ live, because this sure isn't Heaven or Hell…_

_No, it __**could**__ be Hell, but you're really in too much pain to dwell on that puzzling thought for long._

_Suddenly, you feel something strange. The pain is still there, but something __**beyond**__ it…_

_And in a rush, you __**feel**__**pieces**__**join**__…_

_**You are coming back together**__._

_The outside pain has faded away, though there is a __**lot**__ of residual pain left in your body. Your eyes are scrunched shut; a sound like a wind rushes in your ears._

_With a final scream that you just now realize you have been giving the whole time, you collapse from limbo to a solid surface. It's metal, and it's humming with warmth. You lay there, panting, your eyes still shut, just soaking up the warmth, the gentle vibration caressing your injured body._

_Somewhere very near by, you hear a mechanized voice shriek, its words unregistered in your exhausted mind…_

* * *

_The Theater, SCRDW Complex, 4:55 CCT_

"THAT WAS THE SINGLE WORST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!!" CB screeched. "I CAN'T _BELIEVE_ YOU WOULD _DO_ THIS TO ME!! AFTER ALL WE'VE BEEN THROUGH!!"

Dr. Matthis hurried down from the control room to the Theater. Pain was something that had never factored into their plans, but now that he looked back on it, it _should_ have. "Look, CB, I'm sorry – we had _no_ idea –"

"YOU'RE _SORRY_?? YOU NEARLY _TORTURED_ ME TO DEATH AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS 'I'M SORRY'??"

Matthis winced at CB's shrill voice, then his eyes flew wide open as he saw the other occupant of the mirrors' center. "CB, who's that girl?"

"_Girl??_" CB looked around, then down. "_Aaaah!_ Where did _she_ come from??"

Matthis held his head – he was going to _seriously_ need Rhizomian Tylenol. "I expect _she_ came from wherever _you_ went to."

"And that's another thing – I thought I was going to the other side of the moon! Instead I ended up in a doctor's office full of humans!!"

"Oh boy," Matthis sighed. "We'll have to figure out where exactly we pulled her from and fly her back. If the LBWC can cause a _robot_ that much pain, I'd hate to think of what it does to an organic. Jeri, Kada, come down here! I need you to carry this girl!"

The other three were already rushing down the ramp – a ramp instead of a staircase, so 78 could wheel down easily.

"Sweet mother of Venus!" Kada cried.

"Is she okay?" asked Jeri.

"Oh sure, you worry about HER and not ME!" CB grumbled.

"_She's_ a civilian and not staff," 78 said pointedly.

* * *

_You hear voices that sound distant, and you don't really care. You just want to give in to unconsciousness and let sleep wash away your pain…_

_But some instinct deep inside orders you to full awareness, and – however reluctantly – you obey…_

Her eyes drifted open, and, for a moment, her surroundings still did not register. But when they did, they shocked her to full consciousness in a flash, and she bolted upright and screamed. "Where am I?? Who are you??"

It looked like something right out of a science-fiction movie, huge mirrors surrounding her and a warm, vibrating metal floor beneath her. Next to her was a machine that looked rather like a flattened camcorder, and it was hovering in the air! Kneeling at her side was a man in his sixties wearing a white lab coat. And coming to her were…

ALIENS??

NO WAY!!

But… the first person was a woman with cyan skin and black hair. The second was also a woman with a snout; long, pointed ears; gray, reptilian skin; and blond hair. The third and by far the weirdest looked like a brain in a jar connected to a robot body!

"_Where __**am**__ I?_" she repeated, now thoroughly frightened. "_Who __**are**__ you?_"

"Dr. Jenkin Matthis," the man replied. "You're on the Jupiter moon Io."

"_IO??_"

"Jenkin, the machine is starting to overheat," the blue-skinned woman told the man. "Whatever it did was too much for it to handle."

"Then we're in danger of an explosion," said Dr. Matthis.

"EXPLOSION??" the girl echoed.

Dr. Matthis turned to her. "Can you walk?"

"I-I…"

"I'll carry you," the blue-skinned woman told her. "Come on." Then she easily lifted the girl onto her back, piggy-back style.

"Who _are_ you?" the girl repeated.

As the alien took her up to an adjacent room, she said, "I'm Lieutenant Jeri Silvastra of the Tangean Royal Navy."

"Tangean?" the girl echoed, her heart pounding wildly. _Tangean_… "You – you're… _Tangean_?"

"You couldn't tell?" Lt. Silvastra remarked wryly.

"But – but…"

"And _you_ are?" The girl bit her lip, wondering if she should say. "Come on, kid – we need to know so we can get you home."

"I'm not sure… I'm not sure you _can_… Oh man, oh man, oh man…" By now, they were in some sort of control room, and the people were here and there doing… technical stuff. She had no idea – until she heard someone mention "reactor leak." Uh-oh, that she _did_ understand – _clearly_. She'd read enough science fiction to know what a reactor leak was and what could happen.

Lt. Silvastra set her down gently in a chair. The girl closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Erin. Erin Frame."

"Jeri, you need to get her out of here," urged Dr. Matthis. "In case we can't lock this down –"

"I'm sending the distress beacon to the nearest Star Command unit!" 78 announced.

"STAR COMMAND?" Erin shrieked. _Oh my goodness, I am dreaming, I am dreaming, I am __**dreaming**_…

"– I don't want _her_ to be around if this thing blows!" Dr. Matthis finished.

"Jenkin –" Jeri began.

"Lieutenant Silvastra, consider that an order!"

"Yes, sir." Jeri eyed Erin, and the girl didn't like the cold look in the alien woman's sea-green eyes. "Come on." She hoisted Erin back up and jogged out of the room.

* * *

_Bridge of StarCruiser __**42**__, 4:57pm CCT_

"Three minutes and –" XR's countdown was cut off by Mira.

"Buzz, I'm picking up a distress signal from Io! And a transmission!"

"Open the channel!" Buzz ordered, immediately snapping into alert-mode.

The image of a brainpod flickered to life on the pilot and copilot vidscreens. "SCRDW to Star Command – Buzz Lightyear!"

"78, what's going on?" Buzz demanded. He knew 78 – he had personally helped the brainpod escape Planet Z.

"We have a reactor leak!" 78 replied, panicked. "Trying to lock it down!"

"Sweet mother of Venus!" Booster cried.

"Mira, ETA to Io!" Buzz snapped.

"Three minutes!" she responded.

"Hang in there, 78: we're coming!" Buzz told the pod. He swung the StarCruiser around and threw down the throttle.

* * *

_SCRDW Complex, 4:58pm CCT_

"_Reactor Meltdown in 60 seconds. Reactor Meltdown in 60 seconds_," the central AI intoned.

Jeri flipped on her comlink as she ran with Erin. "Jenkin, get to the hangar! We'll meet you there!"

"_Roger that_," Matthis replied.

"_We're all gonna __**die**__!_" Jeri and Erin could hear CB wail in the background.

"_KNOCK IT OFF!_" they heard 78 snap right as Jeri was turning off her comlink.

"Lieutenant, let me down!" said Erin. "I'm slowing you down – I can run!"

Jeri nodded and let the girl down. "GO!!"

Erin didn't need to be told twice. She ran as she had never run before in her life – she had never known she was even _capable_ of putting out so much speed. The huge bunker began to collapse around them, and fires were breaking out everywhere.

They were nearly to the hangar when Jeri stumbled and fell. A flaming beam crashed down onto her, pinning her to the ground. She tried to ghost out, but the fire was already starting to burn her, and it sapped at her concentration.

"LIEUTENANT!!" Erin screamed, whirling around to see her fallen comrade.

"Go, Erin!" Jeri shouted.

"_NO way!_" Erin rushed back to the Tangean and attempted to heave the beam off of her, trying not to notice the fire already eating away at the woman's body.

"Erin, I'm _dying!_ _Go!!_"

"_I'm __**not**__ leaving you!_"

"GO!!" Jeri screamed, using what strength remained to push Erin away.

"But –"

"ERIN, _RUN!!_"

Erin picked herself up from the floor and backed away, staring in terror at the burning woman. She coughed at the smoke, then turned to run. Her eyes burned with the acrid fumes… and tears.

A moment later, a mighty explosion rocked the self-destructing bunker.

Erin felt herself being thrown backwards from her feet, saw the floor rush up to meet her, heard the blood roaring in her ears… And then her world went black.

* * *

_SCRDW Complex, 5:00pm CCT_

Team Lightyear had just been catapulted out of the launch tubes when the complex exploded. "_Hurry!!_" Buzz shouted, zooming down to the burning bunker. "Somebody might have survived!"

The Space Rangers split up and headed to different sectors of the bunker. Mira ghosted into the hangar and picked a corridor to fly down. "Hello? Can anyone hear m–" She did not have to fly far.

Lying sprawled on the floor was a human girl. Mira swooped down, turned off her jetpack, and gasped. The girl was lying on her back, her face and body open to injury…

She was bleeding all over from shrapnel, from face to feet.

Mira quickly checked for a pulse. Shallow, but still there. _Thank God_. "Buzz!" she called, flipping open her communicator. "Buzz, I found a survivor! Young human woman!"

Her captain's face was solemn. "She's the only one, then. XR just did a scan for lifeforms – aside from her, it's just us. Brainpod 78 and their cambot didn't make it, either."

Mira swallowed hard, briefly looking up. When she did, she immediately wished she hadn't – directly ahead was the burning form of a Tangean woman. She clapped a hand over her mouth and turned away from the horrible sight. "Booster," she said in a thick voice, "hurry over here – I'm just beyond the hangar and I need you to get the survivor."

"Comin', Mira!" Booster cried.

A minute later, the whole team was there, and Booster picked up the girl. Buzz caught sight of the burning corpse nearby and instantly turned away, his face contorting with pain. He would never get used to seeing death – _never_.

And he didn't want to.

"Come on, team," he said, his own voice thick. "Let's get her back to Star Command ASAP."

The whole team was quiet in the six minutes it took to reach Star Command. The deaths they had just witnessed had shaken them all.

They were Space Rangers. They were the heroes, they were supposed to save the day, they were supposed to keep people _alive_. Buzz had been in this situation before – when he couldn't get there fast enough, when he just _couldn't __**do**__ it_… It still bothered him.

The rookies had never seen death in duty _at all_.

Guilt – even _imaginary_ guilt – is a powerful thing. _If only_ is one of the most miserable phrases ever created.

They couldn't always be heroes, they couldn't always save the day, they couldn't always keep people alive.

_They weren't invincible_.

And they hated it.

* * *

…_[Anakin had] never forgotten that dead star._

_It had scared him._

"_**Stars can die**__ –?"_

…"_Everything dies. In time, even stars burn out."_

…_his real fear, in a universe where even stars can die, is that being the best will never be quite good enough._

_Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith – the Novelization_, Matthew Stover

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Please review!  
**


	3. Chapter 2: When Times Collide

**Author's Note:**

Long time, no see! *groans* Okay, okay, I know – it's been waaay too long. I am _really_ sorry. But here is the next rewritten chapter, blending the new and old versions together…

To my reviewers:

**KJ:** Thank you so much for always reviewing my new stuff! God bless as you graduate!

**BG:** Your reviews provided the stimulus I needed to get this chapter done! I whipped out most of the rest of it – about two-thirds of the chapter – the same day you reviewed! Thanks!

This story has changed a lot from when I first started it. At first, it was going to be VERY character-based and little, little action – and it's STILL very character-based, but there's going to be much more of a plot than just a rambling "going-through-their-lives" kind of story.

And wow! it actually _does_ sound like a science-fiction novel! Awesomeness!

Two things that I really want to correct in this story are my characterizations of Booster and XR. I think that I kept them pretty well canon before – it's just that they were only in as more… _guest_ appearances or something! That's not being fair to them. =( So yeah, that's one area where I _definitely_ hope to improve.

*grins* My characterizations of Buzz and Mira had BETTER be good. ^^ Along with Warp, they're my two favorites and thus, I spend a _lot_ of time really getting into their heads and getting a _feel_ for them.

…Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

**==Chapter 2==**

**When Times Collide**

_Launch Bay, Star Command, Capital System, Gamma Quadrant; __3/19/3009,__ 1710 hours or 5:10pm CCT_

Buzz waved over the medbots with the repulsor-stretcher. "Come on, come on, let's move it!"

The bots gently lifted the injured girl out of Booster's arms and onto the stretcher, then took off down the halls to the Medbay. Buzz and Mira – for some reason, grabbing the backpack – ran behind them, leaving Booster and XR at _42_'s landing pad.

"I sure hope she's okay," Booster murmured, worrying his lip.

"Me, too," XR said softly. He was too upset to offer any optimism or witticism.

* * *

_Medbay Reception Room,_ _Star Command; 1720 hours or 5:20pm CCT_

Buzz restlessly paced the room while Mira sifted through the girl's backpack to find some ID. Inside were a laptop (Dell?), a datapad (HP?), a Kodak camera – and all this equipment looked _very_ **retro** – a couple of novels, a Bible, a notebook with a pen, a drawing pad, a wallet, and a small jewelry case. The wallet held one ID card with the name Erin Elithsheba Frame. _Wow, what a name,_ Mira thought with something approaching a small smile. _Almost_. She was still shaken up by what she'd seen.

Buzz, on the other hand, was angry… Angry with himself for not getting there fast enough, angry with the reactor meltdown that had claimed several lives and might yet claim one more… even, in his own way, angry with God for letting it happen. Reason would come later and wash away the anger, but for now, it was the only buffer between him and a complete breakdown.

A gasp from Mira interrupted his roiling emotions. "What is it, Ranger?" he snapped, not caring that it was the fifth time he'd snapped at her in the past half hour.

"I – I'm not sure, Buzz," Mira stammered. She stood and handed him the ID card and the datapad. "Look at the _dates_."

The card's personal information read:

_ERIN ELITHSHEBA FRAME_

_70421 84__TH__ AVE_

_PAW PAW, MI _

_Date of birth: 8-30-1990…_

Buzz nearly dropped the card. "What the –" Mira nodded and turned on the datapad. The pad was set to March 19th… _2009_.

"Holy nova," said Buzz, "you don't think…"

"I don't know what to think!" Mira told him. "I mean, _why_ would she keep personal stuff with the wrong information?"

"Did you turn on the laptop?" Buzz asked, thinking quickly.

"Not yet."

"Well, let's do that." He took out the laptop and booted it up.

Microsoft Windows 2000??

The laptop was set to March 19th, 2009, just like the datapad. All the files had been created or modified in the 21st century, too.

"Sweet mother of Venus," Buzz breathed.

"We should try to check her records," Mira suggested after a moment.

Buzz shook himself. "Yeah… yeah. Let's do that."

Mira sank into the chair at the room's kiosk, and pulled up the GACD – Galactic Alliance Citizen Database. She typed in _Erin Elithsheba Frame_.

Nothing.

"Buzz, what's that one site that keeps _really_ old records?" Mira asked.

Buzz rubbed the back of his neck. "Internet History… Internet History Database. Gee, double-u, double-u – dot – net – history – dee-bee – dot – gov." [The address would look like this: gww(dot)nethistorydb(dot)gov.]

"M'kay, thanks." Mira typed in the name again…

Whoa. _Pay dirt_.

Someone had created a bio for the mystery girl:

_Erin Elthisheba Frame, born August 30__th__, 1990, in Grand Rapids, Michigan._

_Eldest of seven children; homeschooled kindergarten through high school._

_Registered to vote in 2008, received state and voter IDs in time for Presidential election – had hassle with state regulations due to status as a homeschool graduate._

_No profession, no college._

_Disappeared March 19__th__, 2009, from dentist appointment._

_Statewide police search, never found._

Additionally, there were many links to newspaper and Internet articles, and radio and TV reports. There were even some links to genealogical and family sites, which mentioned "Erin" several times.

Mira turned in her seat to face her captain. "Buzz, we have to figure out a way to send her back!"

"You read the bio – _never found_! She _didn't_ go back home – couldn't that mess something up?"

"Wouldn't _not_ sending her back mess something up?" Mira challenged. "Buzz, think about _her_ – think about her _family_! What this would mean to all of them!"

Buzz sighed. Mira had a very valid point… and really, all this time-paradox stuff was just _waaay_ over his head. "We better talk with the Commander about it."

"Talk with me about what?" came a familiar gruff voice.

Buzz and Mira turned (Mira standing) and saluted. "Commander," said Buzz.

"At ease," Commander Nebula nodded. "Now what's going on? What's this I hear about a kid in an explosion?"

"Sir, it's a long story," Mira sighed.

Buzz launched into his report: "It started when we got a distress signal from the SCRDW…"

* * *

_Medbay room 024,_ _Star Command; 3/19/3009, 1730 hours or 5:30pm CCT_

The head surgeon deftly wove his small fingers in and out of the young human's body, removing piece after piece of shrapnel. It was bloody work – the worst case he'd ever seen in his life. This girl's body was horribly torn-up – she looked like something out of the movies about the days of bullet-guns. But this was no movie, and her life depended on _him_.

The rest of the med-team was still trying to get her bleeding under control. She had already been bleeding all over her body for half an hour, and if they couldn't control it, she'd end up bleeding to death.

* * *

"_God, where __**are**__ You?"_

_Pain._

_You've become intimately familiar with it._

_Once again, it forms your universe, and you are just as helpless to break away from it as before._

"_God, please just let me __**out**__ of here…"_

* * *

_Medbay room 024;_ _1800 hours or 6:00pm CCT_

The greatest danger had been averted: the blood flow had stopped, and a transfusion had been done. If the girl woke from her coma, she would live. But she had to _wake up_.

In the meantime, the LGMs had a mystery to occupy them.

"Very strange," one of the nurses muttered.

"These scans," the head surgeon agreed, shaking his head.

There was none of the dramatic, drawn-out words that characterized LGMs' speech with other races. When they were alone, they tended to be brief and concise.

The doctor checked the scans a third time, and the results were the same.

The skeletal system was wrong.

The odd thing was that it wasn't deformed, not like any deformation ever recorded in medical history. There was nothing… _skewed_ or out-of-shape – just… _off-kilter_. Like the bones had been subjected to a body-wide scrambling that had taken the pieces apart and put them back together, but without much precision.

Some of the bones the LGMs could stabilize. Others, the girl would simply have to deal with for the rest of her life. There was also a natural defect in her in spine – scoliosis, or spinal curvature. In the girl's case, there were two curves, one near the neck and the other in the lower back. Those could be corrected surgically, but the LGMs would need the permission of a parent or guardian first.

"Doctor," a nurse said, turning to him, "are we _dealing_ with here?"

The surgeon shrugged his small shoulders helplessly. "Better call the Commander in here."

* * *

_Medbay main office,_ _Star Command; 1810 hours or 6:10pm CCT_

"Lemme get this straight," said Commander Nebula. "Lightyear and Nova here are sayin' that this kid came from the past, and you –" he was addressing the LGM surgeon – "are confirmin' it?"

"_Could_ be," the surgeon shrugged. (And let it be known that _this_ time, it _was_ a drawn-out sentence.) "The skeleton – _scrambled_." He used a laser pointer to circle around a 3D hologram of the girl's skeleton. "Other organs, too."

"Is it dangerous?" Mira asked anxiously.

"Shouldn't be," the surgeon frowned. "Not until older age, anyway."

Buzz rubbed the back of his neck. "So _how_ exactly does the scrambling prove she's from the past?"

"Doesn't prove _exactly_. She came from the wormhole research?"

"Yeah," Buzz and Mira answered simultaneously.

"Hmm. Could be they pulled her from somewhere else, at least – their machine was a giant telegraph."

"How do you know that?" the Commander demanded.

"Friends with Brainpod 78," the LGM replied, looking a bit sad. "The machine was meant to take apart things at the molecular level to transport them through space, and reassemble them on arrival."

"Wait, wait," Mira interjected. "You're saying that whatever or _whoever_ went into that thing would _cease to exist??_"

"For however long it took to transport," the surgeon nodded.

Mira shuddered.

"The skeletal scrambling would suggest," the LGM continued, "that she was pulled in, taken apart, and reassembled like a telegraph transmission."

Buzz shuddered with Mira. Neither of them wanted to _try_ to imagine _that_.

The Commander folded his arms and scowled. "So, they _could_ have accidentally pulled her in across time instead of across space."

"Possible," the surgeon nodded again.

The Commander sighed, his face softening. "Is she gonna be okay?"

The LGM's antenna drooped. "If she wakes up."

* * *

_You're still suffocating from the smoke and the heat is burning you up and your complete right side is torn open and bleeding and you can see the fire devouring Lieutenant Silvastra and you want to wake up from this nightmare and run to your parents like you did when you were little and you can't because you can't wake up and you're not sure you can go home and you just want it to STOP…_

_**Mama, I need you – I'm sick and I'm hurt and I'm tired and I just want it to STOP…**_

_And someone is trying to wake you up and you realize that waking might hurt even MORE than sleeping so you want to stay asleep and when you feel a cold hand touch your forehead…_

_**Doggone it, stop it, I'm sick and I'm hurt and I'm tired and I just want to STAY ASLEEP…**_

_And you snap awake and SAY that…_

* * *

_Medbay room 024; 3/20/3009, 0814 hours or 8:14am CCT_

"¡Párelo! soy enfermo y estoy lastimado y soy cansado y quiero PERMANECER DORMIDO!"

Everyone else in the room jumped, not expecting that kind of reaction. Buzz jerked his hand away in surprise from the girl's forehead.

"Did she just say something in… _Spanish?_" XR wondered.

"Uhhh, yeah," Mira said slowly.

"Usted necesitó despertar e intenté despertar usted," Buzz apologized, with flawless inflection. _You needed to wake up and I tried to wake you_. "Mi nombre es Buzz Lightyear." _My name is Buzz Lightyear_.

Erin's cloudy brown eyes focused on Buzz, and widened with recognition. "Holy cow," she whispered, then spoke aloud. "Sorry. I'm American… Spanish is… my second language… and I just… lapse into it… sometimes." Man, it hurt just to say that much. Her throat was burning. "Can I… have some water?"

A nearby LGM nurse said, "Of course," and fetched a glass of water. Erin stared at the nurse in shock but took the cup anyway and drank.

Mira sat down at the edge of the bed, trying to figure out how to approach the matter. "How do you feel?"

"Hurt like… the dickens… all over," Erin grimaced. "My name's… Erin Frame."

"Mira Nova," Mira offered, reaching out for Erin's undamaged left hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. Tears sprang into the younger woman's eyes, and Mira released her grip. "I'm sorry! Did that hurt?"

Erin tried to shake her head no, and discovered that her head felt like somebody had smashed it in with a sledge hammer. "Nnoo…" She looked around the room, seeing the _real_ versions of people she'd only ever known as cartoon characters. "Tell me… I'm dreaming," she said brokenly.

Mira understood then. Just _touching_ her now… Mira _knew_, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this young woman was from another time, another world, entirely. And how could she say it _sensitively_?

_She_ didn't have to. "Of course you're not," Booster frowned, confused.

A tear rolled down Erin's bandaged cheek. "Please," she whispered. "Send me… back home."

"You really _are_ from the past," Buzz said softly.

Erin tried to shrug and found that she couldn't without her shoulder hurting even worse. "I guess so. USA… 2009."

The Rangers (Commander Nebula was there, too) exchanged glances. Finally, Buzz said, "It's March 20th, _3009_."

One thousand years – she had come into the future exactly _one thousand years_… "But – but you're… gonna send me… back home, right?"

"I don't know that we can, Miss," Commander Nebula said gently. "The machine that brought you here exploded."

Grief passed shortly over her features. "I know. But can't… you build… another?" There was something in her voice – hope, grief, fear, a sort of desperate _hunger_ – that hurt those listening to it.

The Commander sighed. "We'll try. I can't guarantee anything, but we'll try."

Relief washed over her face like an ocean tide. "_Thank_ you." Because at heart, Erin Frame was a fighter, and she _never_ gave up, _ever_.

The Commander nodded and turned to Buzz. "Lightyear, patrol. You can visit here later."

"Yes, sir," Buzz saluted as Commander Nebula left. "C'mon, team, you heard him – let's go." He tossed a playful salute to Erin and said, "We'll see you this evening, Miss Frame."

Erin managed a tiny bit of a smile. "Okay… Bye."

* * *

_Medbay room 024; 1811 hours or 6:11pm CCT_

Team Lightyear had just returned to Erin's room from a cafeteria dinner. XR was the first to reach Erin's bedside. "Sooo, why don't we get to know each other? I'm –"

"XR," Erin finished, smirking a bit for the first time.

XR's eyebrows skyrocketed. "You know my name?? How can you know my name if you're from the past??"

"Yeah!" Booster chimed in.

Erin looked like the child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Because, um… because…" _Oh, me and my big mouth!_ How was she going to explain _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command_ to them if she didn't even know how it turned out that the story really did exist in the future?? She glanced around the room as if looking for inspiration – well, she wasn't actually expecting any but she found it anyway: her laptop nearby. "My laptop! Here, I need it, please."

Buzz obliged, and Erin booted up the computer. "Maybe if… I just _showed_ you…" She navigated through her files until she came to the "BLoSC" folder. "You people know about Disney?"

"Yeah, Disney's still around," Mira confirmed. Really, when she thought about it, that was a looong time. Disney was almost as old as Capital Planet filmmaking itself.

"Disney partnered with Pixar animations studio to create a movie called _Toy Story_."

"I've never heard of it," Buzz frowned. "Everybody knows a lot about 20th-21st century Capital Planet culture, but I've never heard of _Toy Story_."

"Neither have I," admitted Mira.

"Pretty dark where I'm sitting, too," XR added.

Erin rolled her eyes. Now that she was immersing herself in the time-paradoxical mystery she had been confronted with, she was able to forget her problems, if only for a little bit. "Didn't think you would. The movie revolved around two action figures: a sheriff doll named Woody and a-a space… action figure." She faltered, and it had nothing to do with her hurting throat. "He was a… _Space_ Ranger named… _Buzz Lightyear_."

Buzz's jaw dropped as Mira and XR exclaimed, "What??" and Booster said, "Huh?" Buzz recovered enough to stammer, "Buzz… _Lightyear_?"

Erin lifted her eyebrows, pressed her lips together, and tried to nod – then was painfully reminded once more that she couldn't. "You better believe it."

"But… how is that _possible?_" asked Mira. "I mean, how could they know – a _thousand_ years ago – that there _would_ _be_ a Space Ranger called Buzz Lightyear??"

_Can't shrug, can't shrug, can't shrug…_ Erin successfully resisted the urge to shrug, never having realized until now just how heavily she relied on body language in communication. "Your guess is as good as mine. I've read stories like this before, but they're always vague on the point of how these people know this stuff. 'Fraid I can't help you there."

"Is that all?" Buzz asked, dreading the answer.

Erin's eyes lit up with excitement. "Not by a long shot, Cap'n. Fact, there were two sequels, but I never saw Number 3 'cause it was supposed to be released a couple years after I… you know. Anyway, at least the first and second included LGMs and Zurg in Number 2. _Toy Story_ franchise was _big_, extremely popular. Then in 2000, Disney and Pixar released a cartoon movie called _Buzz Lightyear_ _of Star Command_: _The Adventure Begins_. Soon after, they came out with a TV series with the name shortened to _Buzz_ _Lightyear of_ _Star Command_. 'Nuff people loved the show to create a small fanbase that was still goin' strong years after the series. The movie depicts the event of Zurg's mind-control with the Uni-mind and the formation of Team Lightyear. Series goes into your adventures after that."

The silence was profound. Finally…

"Wow," XR said softly.

"Yeah," Booster added, just as softly.

Buzz shook his head in amazement.

"So," Mira began, then cut herself off. "Just… wow."

"So… what did _you_ think of all this?" Buzz ventured.

Erin tilted her head ever-so-slightly, her eyes no longer as cloudy and almost sparkling as she seemed to consider the question. "Frankly, I have to say… I love it. I love the Toy Stories, and I love _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command_, movie and series. Other things I still love more, but BLoSC always had its own special place in my heart. Sounds corny, I know, but it's true." She stared sightlessly at the door, remembering. "I was a part of the fandom, you know. On YouTube, on Fanfiction dot Net, on DeviantART… I made music videos and wrote fanfic stories… Downloaded other people's vids, and saved the fanfics and fanart I liked…" Her voice trailed off, and her warm brown gaze returned to Team Lightyear.

Buzz opened his mouth, then closed it, and shook his head. "I don't know what to say."

"Say you'll hang around," Erin urged, "and I'll show you the stuff." Her eyes said what her voice didn't say: _Please, stay with me. Don't leave me here alone_.

Buzz turned to his team. "Well, team, whaddya say?"

"Sure," said Mira.

"I'd love to see a movie about us!" Booster agreed.

"Just so long as they get my _complex_ character right," XR affirmed.

Erin let out a choked laugh. "Oh yeah, XR, they got _you_ right, all right."

Erin decided to skip the Toy Stories, deciding instead on viewing the BLoSC pilot. (This was all arranged with the LGMs' permission, of course – Erin had just had a close brush with Death, and she still had to take it easy, but the movie and the visitors were allowed.) Erin opted on Patrick Warburton's voice in the pilot over Tim Allen's in the movie, as she had realized that Warburton actually sounded _closer_ to the _real_ Buzz than Allen.

She played the show on her laptop, Team Lightyear crowded around her to watch. Buzz's first reaction was one that Erin had mentally predicted:

"_What_ is _with_ my chin?? Yeah, it's strongly defined, but – sweet mother of Venus! – it's not _that_ big!"

Yeah, she had seen _that_ one coming.

But less than two minutes into the show, and Buzz was already on a wonderful, painful journey. Even though it was a slightly-altered cartoon, he found himself reliving the still-fresh feelings of the events that had occurred just a few months ago: the pain and loss of Warp's supposed death, the anxiety of the following days, the fear and anger with Zurg's Uni-mind, the betrayal of his best friend. On the other hand, he was now able to see the humor of that time – featuring mostly Booster, XR, and the LGMs – and he relived the joy of finding himself in a working team.

For the rest of his team, it was mostly all kicks – except for XR, who bemoaned his former lack of proper intelligence and personality and grumbled at Warp for his first explosion. (Erin couldn't help grinning at that part – XR was really just too cute when he got peeved.))

As the credits rolled, Booster jumped up with a "_Hot rockets!_ That was _so cool!_"

"That _was_ pretty fun," Mira grinned.

Erin grinned right back at her. "Y'see why I love you guys?" She managed to laugh along slightly with Mira, then looked _past_ Mira at Buzz, whose gaze was still fixed on the laptop screen. "Buzz?" she asked tentatively. "What did _you_ think?"

Buzz shook himself out of his introspection. "That was… that was amazing. Everything about it was so… _real_."

Erin frowned slightly, wondering if she had done the right thing. After all, that was a _lot_ to make Buzz relive. "Buzz, are you okay? Buzz, I'm sorry."

Buzz shook his head. "Don't be. I'm fine – really. That was just a lot to take in."

Erin nodded, understanding the feeling of being overwhelmed now all too well. "I'm sure."

An LGM opened the door and stuck his head inside the room. "Time to gooo," he announced.

"Well, we'll let you get your rest now," said Buzz, patting Erin on her good shoulder. "We'll check up on you tomorrow before we leave on assignment."

"Okay… thanks." Erin tried to hide her disappointment at watching the team leave. Mira noticed it, however, and she felt a sudden ache in her heart, almost forgotten. It was the ache she'd had several years ago, when her mother had died at Christmas. But at least she'd still had her father and her world – Erin had lost _all_ her family, and her world had changed almost beyond recognition – and she had no real guarantee of getting either back. She couldn't begin to _imagine_ what the younger woman was going through.

The rest of the team was already gone when Mira went back to the bed, leaned over, and hugged Erin. "I'll pray for you," she said softly.

Erin started, but the surprise had a… a _sweetness_ to it. "Thanks, Mira," she whispered.

"No problem." Mira released Erin and returned to the door. "Good night, Erin."

"Good night, Mira."

* * *

_Cold as the northern winds_

_In December mornings_

_Cold is the cry that rings_

_From this far distant shore_

_Winter has come too late_

_Too close beside me_

_How can I chase away_

_All these fears deep inside?_

(Chorus)

_I'll wait the signs to come_

_I'll find a way_

_I will wait the time to come_

_I'll find a way home_

– "Exile," Enya

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Once again, let me say that updates will be sporadic. If you're brand-new to this story, it's in the process of being rewritten, but hey! don't let that stop you from enjoying the rest of the original work! =D

And I **LUV REVIEWS!!** xD


	4. Chapter 3: Heartache

**Author's Note:**

If you've read the original _Watermark_, you should recognize the last scene of this chapter. …And I really have to stop crying over my own work.

Throughout this fic, every Bible verse is quoted from the KJV unless otherwise stated.

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: I AM CONSIDERING A TITLE CHANGE.** Please visit my profile and vote on my poll – thanks.

**To my reviewers:**

To BG: Thank you!! Commander Nebula… I love him. He's a _great_ character. And actually, I usually don't hear the characters' voices when I'm writing, but for some reason, I almost _always_ hear _his_.

Eeee yeah. The LGMs were a MAJOR problem. I knew that they were off, but I just couldn't figure out a way to make them work. There was technical data that the readers need to know (more technical than you usually see in the show), and I could not come up with a way to get that across without sacrificing characterization. *groans* I feel horrible! …Well, my brother and I are going to go back and see if we can fix it. *crosses fingers*

Mm, the IRL-meet-canon _can_ get corny sometimes, _and yet_… That's half of my imaginary world since childhood: putting myself into my favorite stories, you know? Then last summer, I read a Star Wars fanfic series that IRL/canon, and I loved it. I knew that the concept could work, if it was handled right. You know, it's like Thomas Edison: we've learned a thousand ways it won't work. The trick is going on to a thousand _and one_.

Let's say that I've found that _one_, hmm? ^^

Wait, wait, wait… "mature"? "Awesome writing style"? … SQUEEEEEE!!!! *faints* …Okay, no, seriously though, do you have any idea how much that means to me??

And you have _no_ idea just how _much_ purpose this story has. *evil grin*

I won you over to another new idea? Awesomesauce!! =D

And hey, I like the word cool! ^^ I'm thrilled you thought it was cool! Oh, Team Lightyear's reactions to TAB were so much fun – sometime, maybe I'll do a little accompanying piece that's like their commentary on the film or something. ;D _That_ would be fun. …Just wait till they watch the Toy Stories. ^^ Which, originally, they _did_ do. But writing the story _this_ time around, Erin's medical situation is _much_ more serious, and in a real hospital, I very much doubt they'd let a patient in still-pretty-critical condition watch 5+ hours worth of movies with several other people. The Toy Stories will have to wait for now…

"again, it's your characterization that really keeps this story grounded and makes a concept like this truly work." …You've _got_ to stop saying things like that – I could quite possibly die from such overwhelmingly positive, complimentary feedback. ;D All in all, thank you, thank you, _thank you_, **thank you**, THANK YOU!!!!!

To Historian1912:

*checks self* Nope, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth! ^^ I'm so thrilled you love my story, both old and new! Weeeell, this new version is getting the same ending the original was going to have, and the end is going to fit the new better than it would have the old, I think. Hope you like this update!

Ohhh, trust me, if _I'd_ been one of the original writers, Ozma, Romac, and 42 would _never_ have existed. ^^ …And Warp would have been in a LOT more, and Buzz and Mira's _subtle_ pairing would've been _much_ more defined, aaand "Ancient Evil" would've been a lot cooler and I would've followed up on it… And most of all? I WOULD'VE BLASTED FINISHED IT!!

*sigh* …You really think that _I_ would be the best pick for writing new episodes?? *blushes* I am very, VERY flattered!

…Wow. More long author's replies. Thanks to that, the author's notes, and several quotes, this is my longest chapter EVER, with over 14 pages and _5,903_ words. *whistles… well, if I _could_ whistle, that is…* Okay, on with the story.

* * *

**==Chapter 3==**

**Heartache**

_My light shall be the moon_

_And my path – the ocean_

_My guide the morning star_

_As I sail home to you_

(Chorus #2)

_Who then can warm my soul?_

_Who can quell my passion?_

_Out of these dreams – a boat_

_I will sail home to you_

– "Exile," Enya

_everything is falling apart_

_and yet a cacophony of voices_

_(still) whispering_

"_it will be alright"_

_echoes in my head_

_and i wish they would shut up_

_because just maybe_

_(sometimes)_

_i want to fall apart_

_maybe_

_(sometimes)_

_i need to fall apart_

– "echo," teenelizabeth

The next day, Teams Lightyear, Janson, Kolvetska, and Rirdre were assigned to Ground Zero – the SCRDW Complex. Team Kolvetska gathered the dead and transported them to a Capital Planet funeral home. The other teams began the cleanup _and_ the search for any data on the wormhole machine.

_Control room of SCRDW Complex, Jupiter moon Io, Gamma Quadrant: Sector One: Capital System_

_3/21/3009, 1109 hours or 11:09am CCT_

"Gah! Another melted-down computer!" XR cried, jerking his hand away from metal slag. "Am I ever gonna find anything here in _remotely_ working order??"

"I found a datapad!" Booster announced excitedly. Then his ears drooped. "Never mind, it's busted."

"Lemme see!" XR demanded eagerly, taking the pad from Booster. "Maybe I can retrieve the memory… Nope, I can't!" He tossed the pad aside.

Mira sighed and folded her arms. "Who were these people affiliated with? Maybe their connections have schematics or something."

"That's a good idea, Mira," Buzz nodded, standing from where he'd been kneeling to search through the debris. "I doubt we're going to find anything in here – I'll radio the Commander and the other teams and let them know."

Mira nodded back.

* * *

_Bridge of StarCruiser __**42**__, 1553 hours or 3:53pm CCT_

"Okay, normally, I love searching for information," XR began, "buuut… _this is gonna drive me nuts!_ We haven't found a single thing! Those people had _no_ idea of file backup."

Mira shook her head. "It's looking more and more like everything related to that machine was kept on-moon. They probably had all their backups there."

Buzz growled and slammed a fist against his console in frustration. "How could they be so _stupid_??"

"Maybe they wanted to keep it super-secret," Booster suggested.

"Well, that's not helping _us_, Booster," Mira pointed out, closing down her laptop. "It's not helping Erin, either."

"We have three more possible sites to check," Buzz reminded them, his expression still a bit stormy. "Let's hope they have something."

"You know," Mira commented as she ran through her preflight procedures, "I would swear that her name sounds familiar. Frame, I mean."

"I know, it's getting to me, too," Buzz acknowledged. "Maybe she's related to someone famous from that time?"

"I think so," Mira nodded, casting her mind back to their search for Erin in the Internet History Database. "I think – Oh, Buzz! I've got it! I know who it is!"

"Who, who?" Booster urged.

"_Paul_ Frame!" Mira replied excitedly. "One of Erin's brothers!"

"Paul Frame?" Buzz echoed. "Wait a minute, he was the one –"

"He was the one who helped the alien team that landed on Capital Planet back in 2013!"

"And he later on led the Human Military Coalition in the Milky Way War!" Buzz finished.

"Wooow," Booster breathed.

"Wo-how!" XR echoed. "Talk about family members in historical places!"

Buzz nodded, then turned to Mira. "Are we set for takeoff?"

"We're a go," she confirmed.

_42_ shot off into hyperspace.

* * *

_CO's Office, Star Command; 1845 hours or 6:45 CCT_

Through the transparisteel viewport, he could see the sun disappearing behind the western curve of the planet. The clouds in the atmosphere below were a riot of rich, vibrant colors – obscuring the sprawling Capital City.

He was reviewing reports – paperwork, the bane of his existence – when he received The Call. No matter what the situation had been, it was always referred to as _The Call_, because – in the end – the reason itself was always the same. The situation was hopeless.

He sighed heavily as his best Ranger reported the bad news. "You're sure?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," the younger man replied, his voice a bit angry. Because there was nothing they could do, because they'd finally run up against an enemy that they couldn't defeat – Time itself…

The older man nodded slowly. "I'll break it to her."

"Yes, sir."

"Come on home, Son."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Her eyes wanted to close, but her brain was too active to let them.

Time-travel was just as foreign to these people as it was to her. Her mind was telling her that the chances of her ever seeing her family again in _this_ lifetime were slim.

Her heart wouldn't – _couldn't_ – accept that. The same indomitable spirit that had been telling her all her life that things would be all right when she faced problems was madly trying to convince her now that everything would be all right. She _would_ go home. She _had_ to. How could she live the rest of her life… how could she do that without her family?

She wanted to cry. She'd cried yesterday, and she wanted to cry again. But there was this little dull ache in her heart that just wouldn't let the tears come, and that was so much worse. "I never even got to say goodbye. I didn't have the chance to say goodbye!"

_Erin._

It was never a voice in the way we think of voices, because there were very few real words. The Voice transcended the limitations of Speech, and in translating the Voice into actual words will always lose a piece of the meaning.

It was a Voice that Erin did _not_ want to hear. It was a Voice that Erin was too angry to hear.

"Go away, God."

_Erin, don't shut me out._

"Why shouldn't I??" came the acidic response.

_I love you, My child._

Her bitter laugh was tinged with hysteria. "_Love??_ You call _this_ love?? I'm lying helpless in a hospital bed, injured like a soldier in an explosion that _killed_ other people… I may never see my family again… You call _that_ **love**??"

_For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope._

She snorted derisively. "Yeah, right."

_For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts._

"I don't want to hear it, God. You let me be torn away from everything I've ever known, and You let several people _die_! I _used_ to _trust_ You!"

_Continue to trust me, Erin. I know what I'm doing._

"What kind of a God _are_ You??" Two tears finally burned their way down her cheeks, and she nearly choked on the lump in her throat. "You let all this happen when _You could have stopped it_, and You still want me to _trust_ You??"

_Erin, listen to Me._

"No! Just go away. I don't want to listen to You. I'm sick and tired of listening to You and getting hur–"

A knock on the door interrupted her.

* * *

David Nebula massaged his temples and sighed. He didn't want to have to tell the kid that she couldn't go home. He just _knew_ she would be devastated.

It was bad enough that he still had to deal with _his_ own messed-up family, but now he had to break it to an injured girl that she'd never see _her_ family again.

He paused outside the door to room 024, hearing Erin's voice inside. She was talking to someone? He rapped on the door, and waited a full half-minute for a response.

"Come in."

He opened the door and stepped inside. Jumpin' Jupiter, the kid was crying – and she looked like she was mad, too. "Hey, you all right, Miss?"

"I guess," she replied, though it didn't convince either of them. For one thing, her voice was too thick to be all right. "Please, sir – call me Erin."

"Okay, Erin." He walked over to her bedside and gave her a heartfelt sympathetic look. "Look, kid, I've gotta be honest with you." _Break it gently, break it gently…_ "Team Lightyear's been lookin' all day, and it's not good."

Erin tensed, in that way that frightened animals do before they bolt. Her heartbeat also sped up to what felt like a dangerous level. The same God that she had railed at a minute ago she now prayed desperately to. _Oh dear Lord, __**please**__…_ "What do you mean, _not good_? _What's_ not good?"

Oh boy, she was going to take this HARD. "I mean, the Rangers couldn't find any trace of plans for that wormhole machine. They've even checked other databases and computers of groups and companies _remotely_ related to the project. Everything they had about that machine was on Io, and it all went up _with_ the machine."

"Can't you start over from scratch??" she asked desperately.

"How?" The Commander straightened and began to pace. "It took them _years_ to figure all this out, and by your own admission, not even _they_ knew how this happened! So how are _we_ supposed to figure out how to send you back?"

"_But I have to go home!!_"

The shout startled them both, and the room was silent for a good half-minute. The Commander sighed and laid a gentle hand on Erin's left shoulder. "Look, kid," he said quietly, "I'm sorry – I really am. But there's nothing we can do about it."

"But, Commander…" Her voice was weak and shaky, and her eyes were filling again. _I need to go home._

Commander Nebula sighed, bent down further, and wrapped his arms around Erin. He hadn't gotten much chance to be a father, but he remembered well enough what it was like. "Hey, you're a tough little lady – you'll do okay."

Erin just clung to the Commander, his presence the only thing keeping her from breaking down completely… though she still sobbed into his shoulder.

"Commander Nebula, report to Launch Bay," the Star Command Central Computer (aka the S-triple-C) announced over the intercom. "Commander Nebula, report to Launch Bay."

The Commander sighed, growling a bit, "I'm comin'." He gently released Erin and stood straight. "Listen, Erin, I've gotta go. You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah," she lied.

He knew it, too, but he was needed elsewhere and there wasn't anything he could really do. "Okay then. I'll see you later." And he left.

Though Erin Frame was a fighter, she really wasn't at all tough. No, she actually had issues with letting her emotions run rampant – it was probably her biggest flaw. But never before had she faced anything so overwhelmingly BIG.

In the past, tears had generally been a vent when she got upset, to keep herself from exploding. But now, with the Commander gone, she had no one to turn to and the tears locked themselves back up again.

She rolled her head carefully to her left to bury her face slightly into her pillow, her small, frail body shivering.

Sleep was a long time in coming.

* * *

When we dream, there is a piece of our minds that recognizes that it is a dream and not reality, no matter how lifelike the dream may be. There is just something unreal, and that little part in our minds realizes that.

Erin knew that she wasn't awake, yet that surreal feeling was not there. If anything, it almost felt… _more_ real than real, not less.

Then she realized how she knew she was not conscious – she felt no pain. There were no bandages on her body. She was standing, and she was whole, though she was still clad in her hospital gown and still in her medbay room.

She raked a hand through her thick hair and whispered, "Weird." She sat on her bed, pulled her legs up, reached over for her backpack, pulled out her laptop, and booted it up. She needed to see something…

There. That photo of the family, taken only the week before.

The week before for _her_. For the rest of the galaxy, it was a thousand years before.

Her parents sat together, her mother holding baby Joy and her father holding three-year-old Liam. The other kids huddled around: Erin, Paul (15), Samuel (12), Rebekah (9), and Jonathan (6).

It had been a miracle that they'd gotten a decent family picture with no closed eyes. It seemed that somebody was _always_ closing his or her eyes in these photos, even the older kids. Apparently, Frame eyes and camera flashbulbs just didn't mix.

Everybody… everybody looked so happy, content…

She clutched her laptop tightly, her knuckles turning white.

Before, she hadn't allowed herself to give in, because there had always been that measure of hope, however slight. She never gave up until all the options were exhausted – she just didn't have it in her.

But this time, there had been so few options, and now they were gone.

For the first time, the full weight of it finally came crashing down on her, overwhelming her. She closed her laptop, lowered her head to it, and cried. Not a few hot, angry tears… nor measured sobbing.

It was a storm. Convulsions racked her body as she wept and clutched the laptop for dear life.

She was just… _shattering_.

_Erin._

This time, she didn't shout; this time, she didn't resent Him. This time, she clung to Him.

"Oh, God… oh, God…"

_Daughter._

Never before had she had such a complete certainty of being _loved_. It was a Love that wrapped itself around her and engulfed her completely till she was lost in it. And she was no longer sure if she was crying from the weight of her grief or from the weight of that Love.

"Lord, how can I live without them?" It was a whisper, desperate but trusting.

_I will never leave you nor forsake you. I am with you always, even unto the ending of the world._

"It's so hard, You know… sometimes." She tried to rub the tears away. "I mean, You're here with me, but You're not… _here_."

"I always am. You need to learn to recognize that."

It took her a few moments to register that that was not an impression, or a voice in her head, but a _real flesh-and-blood voice_. Hardly daring to believe, she slowly raised her head.

The first thing she really saw was the eyes. They were… ever afterward, she thought they were a deep brown, though she could never be absolutely sure. But they were full of Love – infinitely so. And maybe even sorrow? …Yes, sorrow.

With a start, she realized that He was grieving _with_ her.

She set down her laptop and flung herself into His arms. She came to the Lord of the Universe neither as a reverent adult nor even an awestruck teenager… just a lost child. A little girl who needed her Father.

"Erin, will you listen to Me?" It was a warm voice, rich and golden, strong and steady as _only_ His voice _could_ be.

She nodded, her head pressed against His shoulder. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"I forgive you," He murmured, tenderly stroking her hair. "I love you, Erin – more than you can ever imagine."

Erin tilted her head up just enough to see His face again – His living, beautiful face. "How can You love me like that?" she breathed.

"I love you because I created you," He whispered back. "You are My child."

"But… Jesus?"

"Yes?"

"Why… why did You let those people…"

His eyes were full of understanding, though when He spoke next, His voice was firm. "Dear One, that is not for you to know. It was their time – that is all you need to know."

"Bu-ut… how can You bring something _good_ out of _that_?"

"I can bring good out of any death, Erin."

Her body shuddered as an aftershock from the crying, and when she spoke next, her voice was barely audible as she buried her face into His shoulder once more. "Why did You take me from my family?"

His voice was gentle. "I've taken many from their families, Erin."

"But You gave them the choice! I didn't have one!"

"Erin, you _do_ have that choice."

Her head jerked up to stare at Him as disbelief, confusion, and joy passed over her features. "What?"

"That is why I am here – to give you that choice. If you truly want it, I will send you back home."

Home. She was going home. Because of course she wanted it, because that's where her family was, because she needed them, because she loved them, because that was where her heart lay…

"I-I…"

And she found that she couldn't say it. Because suddenly, that burning desire no longer consumed her, and she could not honestly say that it was what she truly wanted.

"Erin, whatever you decide, it will be your final choice. There will be no going back."

Her eyes filled with tears again, and she bit her lip briefly. "How can You ask me to make that choice? I don't know!" she cried despairingly. "I don't know!"

"Oh, Erin. My Erin." His arms folded around her once more, and he softly stroked her back. "I have a plan for you here, a future. It will not be easy, Dearest, but there is always difficulty in following My will. If you truly wish, you will be sent back home, but if you do…"

"If I do, I'll never know what could have happened to me here," she finished softly. "I could have something wonderful here, and if I go back, I… I'll never know."

"Yes, Dear One."

"But I _need_ my family," she pleaded quietly, staring back up at Him with wide, tearful eyes.

"Erin, I would never ask of you anything that you could not do. You _don't_ need your family – not like you think." There was silence for almost a minute before He spoke again. "Do you know why?"

She _did_ know why, then, and the realization would have broken her heart had it not already been breaking. She hung her head in shame. "Because… because I've… I've clung to _them_. …Instead of clinging to _You_."

"Erin dear, you know that when you value something else more than you value Me, you must let go of it. I am either first only in your life, or I am second. And I cannot be second if you are to live the way that I want you to live."

"Is that why You've brought me here? To take me away from them?"

"No. You are here because I have a purpose for you here. But all the same, you cannot continue to place your family above Me."

Erin was quiet then, and for what felt like a long time, the room was completely silent. He simply held her. At last, she was ready to speak again. She had made the decision before she had even been aware of it.

Her voice was very, very quiet as she said, "I'll do what You want me to do."

Peace such as she'd never known before filled her, dispelling the ache in her heart. "Erin." Her name was spoken with so much love and pride that it made her want to cry again, from the sheer weight of it.

"Jesus?"

"Yes, Dearest?"

"Can I… may I say goodbye?"

His smile softened. "Yes, Dearest. I would not withhold that from you."

"And… may they see… the team?"

His smile faded, though not in a negative way. His face was simply… solemn. "Yes. They may."

"Will You be here?"

He tilted His head slightly. "Not physically. I appear here only for you. I _will_ be here, but in the way that I am here wherever you are." He lightly tapped the point over her heart.

"So… You're leaving _now_?" Her face was crestfallen.

He tenderly caressed her cheek with the back of His hand, and for the first time, she saw the nail mark in His wrist. "Yes."

"Will I ever see You like this again? _Before_ Heaven, I mean?"

"No, Dearest, you will not."

"Why?" A lone tear rolled down her cheek. "Why don't You come to us like this, all the time?"

"That is not how it is meant to be for now." He gently wiped the tear away. "A day _will_ come when you will be able to see Me every day, as often as you wish, but that time is not yet come."

"The Millennial Kingdom," she said softly, looking down and nodding. Then she looked back up. "But… will You be closer to me? Will I be able to… _sense_ You, more often?"

"The question is: will _you_ be closer to _Me_, Erin. It is _your_ choice."

"I want to be."

"Then do so. I am always waiting for you, Erin – even when you think I am far away, I am always here." He began to fade.

"I _love_ You, Jesus!" she cried.

"I love _you_, Erin." The last thing she felt before He disappeared entirely was a kiss upon her forehead. Then, she saw Him no more, but she could feel Him still there, as surely as if she _could_ still see Him.

"I love you," she whispered again.

The door whooshed open, letting in seven extremely familiar people. "Mama! Daddy! Guys!" Erin bolted from the bed and rushed at them.

There was a collective chorus of "Erin!" and she was received with many hugs and shouts.

"Erin, where have you _been_??"

"We've been looking all over for you!!"

"It's been two days!!"

"We've been so worried!!"

"Where _are_ we??"

Mama and Daddy were the quietest, and Erin realized that they _knew_. They had probably been told before coming here.

Amidst the joyful cacophony, Mama quietly passed little Joy into Erin's waiting arms. Erin clutched Joy to her chest as if the baby would be taken away. Joy smiled at her big sister and cooed, and Erin's eyes watered again. "Oh, Honey, I'll miss you the most," said the young woman, kissing the baby's face over and over again. And she really would. Joy's life had only just begun, and Erin was leaving her. Her heart hurt with the sudden realization that Joy would probably not even _remember_ her. "Oh, Joy… oh, my girl, my girl! Remember me, sweetheart! Please remember me!"

She'd never get to know her baby sister, never get to see her grow up. She'd never get to see Liam grow up, or Jonathan, or even Rebekah – they were all still so young. She'd never see Paul and Samuel fully mature into young men. She wouldn't see her siblings go courting, wouldn't be there for their weddings or the births of their children. She wouldn't be there for her parents' twenty-fifth anniversary.

"Erin, why ahre you cry-ing?" Liam asked her, his beautiful three-year-old face full of concern.

"Yeah, we're together now, and you're coming back home," Jonathan frowned.

"Riiight?" Rebekah demanded.

Erin couldn't speak past the lump in her throat, so she had to settle for a shake of the head. Daddy wrapped his arm around her tightly, and answered for her. "Erin isn't coming home with us."

There was a collective "_What??_"

"Look around," Mama told them, gesturing to encompass the room. "God brought Erin here for a reason."

"It looks like Star Command in Buzz Lightyear," Samuel mused, his frown creasing his freckled face.

Erin smiled sadly. "It _is_."

Again, the "_What??_"

At that moment, as if cued, Team Lightyear stepped into the room. Jaws dropped on both sides, and Mira was the first to recover her powers of speech. "Erin… Is this your _family_?"

Erin nodded. "Team Lightyear, meet my parents, Henry and Maria Frame, and my brothers and sisters: Paul, Jonathan, Rebekah, Jonathan, Liam, and Joy. They were… brought here."

"Brought how??" XR demanded. This was all just waaay too weird for him.

"_God_ brought us here," Paul replied. "To say goodbye to Erin." Erin glanced at her brother and shook her head. Paul was always two steps ahead of everyone else.

Mira stared at Paul. The only photos she'd ever seen of him had been taken in adulthood, but she could easily recognize him. His bearing was already militant, and his body was tall and athletic. She could see the boy turning into the man that would – in less than ten years in his time – lead the largest and most diverse army his planet had ever seen against a tyranny that threatened the entire galaxy. Then Paul caught Mira's gaze on him, and she blushed and looked away.

"What? What's going _on_ here??" Buzz demanded, his arms crossing his broad chest.

Erin drew herself up as best she could while holding a baby. "I'm not going back, Buzz," she said quietly. "I'm staying here. I was given the choice to return or to stay – and I chose to stay."

It took about half an hour for things to properly be sorted out, and by the end of it, the children were discussing finding out a way to keep Erin's possessions in stasis and hide them away for her so that she could go to 31st century Michigan to find them. Erin replied that she would really appreciate that.

Eventually, Liam – who had been the most obsessed with BLoSC back home aside from Erin – couldn't take the lack of attention and emphatically declared, "Stah Comman' get Zuhg!"

The Frames laughed, and so did Mira; and the men in Team Lightyear just smiled. "That's right, Liam," Erin agreed. "Star Command _does_ get Zurg – right, Buzz?"

"You got it," Buzz grinned cockily.

Liam marched up to Buzz, panting with excitement and importance (as three-year-olds are apt to do). "You're – Buzz – Lightyeahr!"

"Yes, sir, I am," Buzz smiled, shaking the little boy's hand.

"It's Buzz Lightyeahr!" Liam declared to everyone else. "To infin'ty an' beyon'!"

Everyone laughed hard at that except for Buzz, who blushed furiously. "Uh – that's – right…"

"I wan' Buzz!" Liam then announced.

"That means he wants you to pick him up," Erin explained, still laughing.

"Oh, well, all right." And Buzz lifted Liam into his arms, groaning for good measure. "Oooh! You're getting to be a _big_ boy!"

Liam giggled madly at that, proud and exhilarated to be receiving such attention from his hero. "I wanna see da scahry one!" he told Buzz.

Buzz gave him a confused smile. "The scary one?"

Erin and Mama traded looks, then Erin replied, "He means NOS-4-A2." XR yelped, and she shrugged. "He likes the episodes with him."

"Is he _nuts??_" XR cried. How could a cute little boy like a robotic vampire _monster_ like NOS-4-A2??

"No, he's a three-year-old," sighed Mama.

"Sorry, little fella, no energy vampires t'day," Buzz told Liam.

"Bum-muhr!" Liam pouted.

There were a few more minutes spent in the Frame children getting to know their heroes a bit better before they returned to their own time. At last, Daddy cocked his head as if he'd heard something, and quietly said, "Kids? It's time to go."

Erin took a deep, shuddering breath. _Oh dear God, I'm going to miss them all so much._

What followed next was heartbreakingly private. Team Lightyear left the room after saying their goodbyes, and Erin slowly made her rounds with each parent and sibling, carefully committing every last detail to memory – every sound, every sight, every smell, every touch. At last, she came to the youngest two.

Liam hugged her tightly. Crying uncontrollably, she picked up her baby brother and clung to him. "Liam, may I have a kiss?" she pleaded.

Liam replied with two big, affectionate kisses, one on the cheek and one on the lips. "Goo'bye! Love you!"

"I love you, too, sweetheart," she sobbed, setting him down. She then took Joy from her father to hold her one last time. "Please remember me," she whispered. "Remember my love for you. I love you, Joy. _I love you_."

Joy smiled at her sister as she kissed her over and over again. Finally, Erin surrendered the baby to Daddy, who was quickly fading. In a few moments, everyone had faded but Mama. "Don't go," Erin pleaded desperately, clinging to her mother. "Don't leave me."

"Erin, this isn't my time," said Mama, crying herself. "God has a different plan for you, one that I don't have a part in. …Daddy and I always knew that He had something special planned for each of you kids, and we always knew that _you_ would be something unique. You're the firstborn, and firstborns have always been special to God."

"I _hate_ it!" Erin sobbed.

"I do, too," Mama whispered.

"Mama, pray with me. One last time," Erin almost choked on the words.

"Dear Lord, give Erin the strength and the courage for what lies ahead. Be with her, Father, and comfort her. Guide her and protect her in everything that she does. Let her new friends help her to keep going, and let them be there for her. In Your precious Son's name we pray, Amen."

"Amen," Erin echoed.

"Feel better?"

"Not by much," Erin admitted. "I can't do it, Mama! I just can't do it!"

"With God's help, you can." Mama kissed her and hugged her one last time, then held her back at arm's length to look her in the eye. "Now be brave," she smiled through her tears, "and don't look back. _Don't look back_."

Slowly, dazedly, Erin nodded. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Erin, and I'll always be with you." She faded away, leaving her daughter alone on a metal bed in a white medbay room.

"I love you," Erin repeated softly into the empty air.

One might have thought that Erin had cried so much that she had used up all her tears. Not so. She slipped back into bed, clutched the pillow, and buried her face into it. It wasn't long before the pillowcase's fabric in that particular spot was soaked up with as much saltwater as it could take, and still she cried. It was all too much for her to take in.

* * *

"…_when you hit rock-bottom, only place to go is up."_

– Sweet, quoting Thaddeus Thatch, _Atlantis: The Lost Empire_

_When Destiny calls you_

_You must be strong_

_(You gotta be strong)_

_I may not be with you_

_But you've got to hold on…_

Chorus:

…_You'll be in my heart_

_(Believe me) you'll be in my heart_

_(I'll be there) from this day on_

_Now and forevermore_

_You'll be in my heart_

_(You'll be here in my heart)_

_No matter what they say_

_(I'll be here)_

_You'll be here in my heart_

_Always_

_Always… I'll be with you_

_Oh, I'll be there for you always_

_Always and always_

_Just look over your shoulder_

_Just look over your shoulder_

_Just look over your shoulder_

_I'll be there_

_Always_

– "You'll be in My Heart," Phil Collins

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I own Erin and the Frame family; I own the SC Teams Janson, Kolvetska, and Rirdre; I own SCRDW and all of its affiliations; and I own my version of galactic history.

I own nothing else.

…I cannot tell you just how **HAPPY REVIEWS MAKE ME**. Seriously, I can't.


	5. Chapter 4: Family

**Author's Note:**

My rewritten chapters are longer. I am happy.

Okay, well, it's been a looong time since the last rewrite, hasn't it been? Sorry about that, but a _lot's_ happened since then, and I don't want to go into the details. Pfft, the fic itself has gotten a renaming since then!

Oh, and I know now exactly where I want the next two fics in the series to go! Beyond that, I have several ideas of where to take _For Good_, and I have no idea which one to use. At least I know Books 1-3.

Random plug: _Christy_ (by Catherine Marshall) is an awesome book and TV series. Go read it. Go watch it.

**Oh, and today is Cassie's birthday! Happy birthday, Kila-ster! ;D**

**TO MY REVIEWERS:**

**BG:** You _did_ review the old Chapter 3, so I wasn't a bit surprised that your review was unsigned. xD

Oh wow, I nearly made you cry… I take that as the _highest_ compliment. (And I myself was crying rivers as I wrote that chapter.)

"This chapter was amazingly sweet." Oh, thank you, thank you, _thank you_. Between the Gospel and – I must confess – Narnia as my inspiration, I hope I _did_ do well portraying Jesus. I wrote Chapter 3 from the heart all the way, so there were many elements from my own life and from Real Life in general. More than one part in my own writing hit home.

"You do have a gift. :)" …_Thank you_. That's all I can say. =)

**KJ:** Darlin', your reviews always make me happy. Thanks for being my sunshine. =D

**Historian1912:** No, I havenae dropped off the face of the earth. =D And I'm so glad you love the fic!

Oh, and I'm quite sure I'm not one of the show's script writers. If I had been, this would be a book in print. xD Thank you so much. …There is a project of sorts still in the extremely early stages to create a fan-series, but right now it's at the point where I'm trying to woo people to the idea so that it can actually be worked on. Right now, it could very well die – time will tell, I guess.

* * *

**==Chapter 4==**

**Family**

"_**Ohana**__ means family. Family means nobody gets left behind, or forgotten."_

- _Lilo & Stitch_

_3/22/3009_

He opened one eye and gave his pillow a muffled moan. It was too early to wake up, so he closed that eye and went back to sleep.

Or _tried_ to. It's hard to sleep when you suddenly have about fifty pounds pouncing on you and bouncing up and down on your bed. "C'mon! Time t' get up!"

"Aaaargh, _blast it_, Kit! _Get off my bed!!_"

"Nuh-uh! It's time t' get up!"

"You're not even supposed to be bouncing on beds!!" he shouted as he flung back his covers. The little pest was still bouncing up and down, and he tried swiping at it. No such luck. "Sierra, get your son off my bed before I blast him!!"

"Mom said I couldn't bounce on _my_ bed – she never said anything about yours!"

"Kit!" called a voice from the hall. "Quit bouncing on the beds."

"Awww, craters," Kit mumbled, falling to the big mattress with a last _voomf_. "Mooom."

"Don't you 'Mom' me, young man," Sierra said sternly, striding in and easily picking her six-year-old son up off the bed. "Come on, let's let your Uncle Warp get dressed."

"It's not even my wakeup time," Warp protested, stretching.

"You might as well get up," Sierra countered. "You won't go back to sleep this late in the morning."

"Yeah. _Thanks_, Kit," Warp muttered, shooting the boy a dark look as he pushed himself out of bed.

The six-year-old wisely backed out of the room. "Don't be a grouch," Sierra chided the man, heading for the door. "Breakfast in ten."

"Gotcha."

In fifteen minutes, Warp was in the kitchen, munching on a pancake. Kari, the new Lorean girl on his staff, was leaning on the counter and watching him. Warp realized this and flashed her a quick grin before taking a sip of espresso. Kari smiled back at him, then turned to pull more tableware out for Sierra and Kit.

Warp heard a couple of the other maids giggling in the dining room beyond, Chesselette and Jiloanne by the sound of them. He sighed. Maybe following that whole "pretty girls as maids for bad guys" stereotype was a bad idea. Sometimes, it was okay. Sometimes, it was even great.

And sometimes, it just felt shallow.

Sometimes, his girls reminded him too much of a part of his past he wished he could forget.

Sierra and Kit entered the kitchen and disrupted his brooding. Well, Sierra walked right in – Kit tried to edge his way along the cabinets in an effort to move undetected. Warp glanced sideways at the boy and exhaled loudly. "Kit, just come sit down, already."

The boy meekly took his place at the table. "Sorry for the wakeup, Uncle Warp."

"Eh, it's okay – just _don't_ do it again, all right?"

"Yessir."

"Good."

Sierra was Warp's age and his only cousin, on his father's side. As a result, the two had grown up very close, despite some things that happened to Warp when they were fifteen. At the age of thirty, Sierra had gotten married; but, a couple of years later, when her husband learned that she was pregnant with Kit, he left her. After Kit's birth, he handed her their divorce papers and made sure that she had complete custody of their son. Warp tracked the man and gave him both a piece of his mind and a piece of his fist – off-duty, since such an action could get Warp fired from Star Command. Buzz had known, and looked the other way – Warp knew that his partner was almost as upset about the whole affair as Warp himself was.

Half a year ago – three months after the Uni-mind incident – Sierra was laid-off from her job. Despite his now criminal status, Warp offered to take in his cousin and her son in exchange for Sierra's services as a housekeeper, and she accepted.

"Uncle Warp?"

"Mm?"

"Why do grown-ups drink coffee?"

"It's energizing."

"Like sugar?"

"Yeah, kinda."

Warp didn't even mind little conversations like that. Little kids tended to annoy him – well, to be honest, Kit annoyed the _heck_ out of him – but he still loved his little cousin. Sometimes, it made him wish that things could have been different, because the funny thing was that, in the end… All the money he earned, all the "toys" he accumulated…

But he didn't like to think about that. It sounded too close for comfort to Lightyear.

Sierra's golden brown eyes were studying him from over the rim of her coffee mug. She knew what he was thinking. She always knew; just like _he_ always knew what was on _her_ mind.

He stood abruptly and said, "Thanks for the breakfast, Kari. I've gotta go. See ya, Kit, Sierra." And just like that, he was gone.

Sierra sighed and shook her head, then turned to see her son watching her. "What?" she asked him.

"Why does Warp have to be a criminal?" Kit asked, pouting slightly.

Kari cleared her throat and said quietly, "I'll be back in a little bit to clear the table."

Sierra nodded and gave her a silent look of gratitude. The young Lorean slipped out of the room, then Sierra turned back to her boy. If she could get a nickel for every time they went through this… "You _know_ it's a long story, sweetie. You'll understand when you're older."

"That's what you always say," Kit pouted. "And I can understand a _lot_, Mom."

"Yes, I know. And more than you should. …I don't _want_ you to know right now, okay?"

Kit replied in that resigned tone that younger children use so well. "Okay, okay."

* * *

_Z-Tower, Planet Z, Zeta Quadrant; 8:58am ZTT (Z-Tower Time)_

Warp strode slowly through the many corridors of the tower to reach the Throne Room. He wasn't ambling or strutting – he was too introspective just now for that. As sentimental as it may have sounded, this place held memories for him, and not all were bad, either. There were a lot of good ones.

The truth was that Zurg had, in a way, taken Warp in, when he was seventeen. He hadn't graduated yet, but he managed to work in secret, just like he had at Star Command. Zurg was the person who had taught Warp how to shoot. Warp gave a small smirk at _those_ memories – Zurg hadn't been a _bad_ teacher, but he had _definitely_ been tough.

He entered the Throne Room and bowed slightly to the purple figure on the throne. "Morning, Your Evilness."

"Darkmatter," Zurg returned, preoccupied with one of his vidscreens.

_Must be watching PZBN_. Warp approached the throne and stretched to see the screen. "What's cookin' on the news this morning?"

"You remember that wormhole research we were keeping an eye on?" Zurg replied, his eyes never leaving the screen.

"Yeah. The SCW… uh… something or other."

"The facility blew up. Exploded and took out the scientists who were working there." Zurg paused and tapped a finger against his mouth grille in sudden contemplation. "Come to think of it, that means that Brainpod 78 is now gone, so I can check him off the Revenge List…"

"Wait, wait, the base is _gone_?" Warp asked in disbelief. "You're kidding! What happened?"

"Reactor meltdown. The wormhole creator itself, though, _did_ work just once. It brought someone out of the _past_ into our _own_ time!"

Warp frowned incredulously. "You're kidding!"

"Not at all." He pointed to the screen, which showed a Star Command Medbay room. A figure wrapped in bandages lay in the bed at the center of the screen.

Warp grimaced. The figure was a girl, and he could tell from the bandages that she was suffering from serious burns. Laser burns were painful enough – he didn't want to _try_ to imagine how much _fire_ burns must hurt. He exhaled shakily. "Holy nova."

"All the work was lost, too. _All_ of it – gone. Finito. Poof." Zurg flung his hands out briefly to illustrate the last word.

"They didn't back up somewhere else?" Warp shook his head in mild disgust. "Idiots."

Zurg nodded mournfully, idly stirring the straw in his zappuccino cup. "You'd think that at least _78_ would've had more sense."

"Yeah." Warp straightened then and brightened his tone. "So, um, Boss, what's on the agenda for today?"

"Well, let's see." Zurg donned his glasses, picked up his clipboard, and began to scan it. "I need you to pick up a shipment from Kentrix…"

* * *

_Medbay room 024, Star Command; 0823 hours or 8:23am CCT_

Waking up was a gradual process. She felt light, ethereal, as though she were… floating. And regaining consciousness… she felt herself drifting back down to earth, down to a gravity that made her feel heavy.

At last, she opened her eyes, just as the door whirred open. Buzz, looking a bit bemused, poked his head into the room. "Erin?"

"Mornin'," she called weakly.

"Good morning," he greeted back, stepping into the room and coming to the bed. "Uh, the team and I were wondering… I mean, we all… Umm… Did you have a good sleep last night?"

"I guess."

"No, uh, dreams?"

"_I love you, Erin – more than you can ever imagine. …I __**will**__ be here, but in the way that I am here wherever you are."_

"_Erin, where have you __**been**__??"_

"_Team Lightyear, meet my parents…"_

"_It's Buzz Lightyeahr! To infin'ty an' beyon'!"_

"_Sorry, little fella, no energy vampires t'day."_

"_I'm not going back, Buzz."_

Erin shut her eyes briefly at the flow of memories from the night before. "Buzz, that was…" She opened her eyes and looked at him. "You and the rest all met my family?"

Buzz nodded, bewildered.

She nodded almost imperceptibly and leaned back into the pillows. "It was _real_, Buzz. It was every bit as real as the two of us talking here right now."

"But it was a _dream!_" he protested.

Erin tried to shake her head, but the motion still hurt too much. "It was _like_ a dream, but that doesn't make it any less real." He still wasn't buying it. "Okay, okay, look. Once I'm healed up, take me back to Michigan. Remember when the kids were talking about putting my stuff in stasis? Well, if they did, you'll have your proof."

Buzz sighed. "Are you _sure?_ Erin, what if we go there, and you don't find what you're looking for? How do you think you're going to handle that?"

"Prob'ly cry my eyes out," she smiled faintly. "My ultra sensitivity is the least of my worries right now, though."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"I need a spinal surgery, and the LGMs want to do it as soon as possible. See, I have this defect called scoliosis, abnormal curvature of the spine? Well, come to find out, in this day and age, _that_ can be cured a whole lot easier than it could back in _my_ time. So when the LGMs were patching me up from the… _accident_, they saw the problem and knew they could fix it. Unfortunately, I still need permission from a… a relative. _Any_ patient does who is under the age of twenty-one."

"Craters, that's a problem," Buzz mused. "…Weeell, I guess maybe if somebody sibling-adopted you…"

"Beg pardon?"

"Sibling adoption. An adult can adopt an orphan under the age of twenty as a sibling," Buzz explained. "And you're –"

"I'm _definitely_ an orphan under twenty," Erin finished.

"Right." He paused. "Now the question is, _who?_"

"Well, it'd have to be someone I know."

"I'd say that's a given," he agreed.

"Should be somebody I respect," she added.

"That'd be nice."

"Someone who will love me, care for me, be there when I need him… Someone strong and dedicated…"

"Respect, love, dedication – sure, sure, just great. So where are you gonna find such a Superman?" Erin immediately turned on her puppy eyes, and Buzz's own eyes widened in realization. "You mean _me??_"

"Well, you're not Superman, but you're kinda available," Erin grinned.

He backed away from the bed. "Ha-no – nonono."

"Oh, come on, Buzz!" she pleaded. "_Please??_ I think you'd make a _great_ big brother!"

"I just – I-I-I-I don't have time to – I mean, I don't have the money to –"

"I can get a job," she told him. "And it's not like I'm a child – I'm old enough to be in the house unsupervised. It'd just be for seventeen months!"

"_Seventeen months??_ No way!" Buzz protested.

"Isn't it your responsibility as a Space Ranger to help people in any way you can??"

Buzz raised a finger, then froze, his jaw dropping. She had him, and they both knew it. Finally, he closed his mouth. "You are… absolutely right." Sigh. "All right, all right, but – just for seventeen months."

"Deal. Then after that, we can part ways and you'll never see me again," she grinned.

"Oh, if only," he quipped. Erin gave him a dirty look, and he laughed. "Maybe Mira could let you bunk with her, though. I just… I don't think it would be a good idea for you to live at _my_ house."

"I can think of a few reasons, yeah," Erin agreed.

Buzz rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay, I'll get the papers and sign them, and authorize the surgery."

"Thanks," she smiled.

"What about a job for you, though?"

She grimaced. "I'm not sure. Y'see, I never had a job back home. I was trying to become a writer, and I wasn't going to college this school year – not that I even wanted to."

He frowned. "That could make things tough. I mean, there'll always be a demand for writers, but in the meantime… Maybe you _should_ take up college."

"For what? The only reason I'd go to college would be to become a Ranger –" her eyes lit up – "whiiich actually isn't exactly a bad idea."

"It's not exactly a good one, either," Buzz shot back.

"Buzz!"

"Don't you 'Buzz' me, kid. Look, you have no idea –"

"I have _plenty_ of idea!" she retorted hotly. "I may not have gotten out much in the past eighteen and a half years, but I am not sheltered, and I am _not_ naïve. I _know_ that being a cop _and_ a soldier is hard. But I can do it! And from what I know about Zurg and all the jintillions of criminals around the galaxy, you need every person out on the field you can get! I can do it! I _know_ I can! Just let me try!" Because now that the idea had come up, she wanted with all her heart to follow through.

She reminded him of Mira, the first time he'd met the princess. "Erin, being a Space Ranger is not an easy thing," he said solemnly, bending down to sit on his haunches so that they were eye-to-eye. "And even if you pass the Academy, it's – it can be really hard."

"I know." Her sepia eyes were dark but steady, her voice firm but quiet. "But I've been praying for a long time now that God would show me an opportunity to serve others. I'm here for a reason. Maybe this is it."

Buzz sighed, suddenly and unaccountably feeling old. He looked down for a moment, then back up to meet her gaze. "I want you think about it, long and hard. You can't make a decision like this based on spur-of-the-moment."

"I will."

Nodding, Buzz rose from his half-kneeling position. "All right then. I'll get going now – I've got a lot to do." He headed for the door.

"Okay," Erin breathed. "And, Buzz?"

He stopped and turned back, his hand on the door frame. "Yes, Erin?"

"Thank you. So much."

A small smile touched the captain's lips. "Sure thing… Sis."

She smiled back as he left.

* * *

After breakfast, Erin pulled her Bible out of her backpack and opened it to the Book of Hebrews, chapter 11. This chapter is called "The Hall of Faith," because it lists out different people who trusted in God and acted upon that trust. Abel, the second son of Adam and Eve. Enoch, the man raptured before the Flood. Noah, a man who prepared for a flood for over a hundred years in the middle of dry ground. Abraham.

It was Abraham that caught Erin's attention. _By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign country…_ That sounded familiar. Erin herself had been called to a new place, a new time… for a reason, and she had obeyed the call.

She flipped all the way back to Genesis, specifically chapter 12, where Abraham's story began: _Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from they father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee_. Abraham made mistakes, yet he trusted God, Who held to His promise and blessed Abraham.

"_I have a plan for you here, a future. It will not be easy, Dearest, but there is always difficulty in following My will."_

Closing her Bible, Erin took a deep breath, let it out, and stared up at the ceiling. "Okay, God. Just… show me the way, and I'll follow."

_Yo decidido seguir a Cristo_

_Yo decidido seguir a Cristo_

_Yo decidido seguir a Cristo_

_No vuelvo atrás, no vuelvo atrás_

* * *

Later, the LGMs gave Erin a new laptop so she could surf the Internet. She was amused to find that Google had been ousted by a website with the name Infinity, and briefly wondered if there was a relation to Buzz's catchphrase. Probably not, but it was still interesting.

She typed "Emperor Zurg" into the search and came up with well over a hundred thousand results. Scrolling down the page, she saw that many results were news headlines broadcasting Zurg's devious deeds, though some results were apparently people's blog commentaries. Among the latter, she found both jokes at Zurg's expense and some hate-talk.

Interesting. She hadn't thought that Zurg's brand of evil was serious enough to generate hate-talk.

She found the Galactipedia article on Zurg and discovered that his full name was _Zuriel _Zurg. "_Zuriel?_ Huh. Isn't that Hebrew?" she mused aloud.

There was a lot of data on Zurg's actions against the Galactic Alliance, but that wasn't what captured Erin's interest. No, it was the personal history. She had to cross-reference to several other articles, but in the end, she pieced this information together:

Zurg's race was the Zeretanae, but the common Anglicization was "Zeta." The Zeta Empire had always existed independent of the Galactic Alliance, which was only five centuries old. Zurg's grandmother, Arazai Zurg, had been an oppressive Empress, and eventually, her tyranny pushed her people into a civil war. The rebellion was led by none other than the Prince, Zurg's father. But after two years, the rebels suddenly disappeared – Erin inferred that _Zurg_ knew what had happened, but the articles did not say. The Empress turned her attention to the GA and a conquest that had, apparently, been years in the making. It was only through the work of a newly-formed military force called Star Command that the Zeta Empire was held back from overrunning the GA. However, Erin could not find information on how the Zetas had been defeated, and made a mental note to ask Buzz about it later.

Arazai was killed, and her grandson was left to take the throne at the young age of twelve. When the Emperor was a few years older, he apparently became involved in the Fringe, which was when Star Command first started to keep an eye on him. At the age of twenty-five, he inexplicably changed. He took on the title "_Evil_ Emperor," and began to disrupt the peace within the GA. Now Erin's curiosity was piqued. What had happened when he was twenty-five to make him change so dramatically?

After that, the personal history became more cut-and-dry as it flowed into his "crimes" against the Alliance.

"Interesting," she murmured. She saved the data to the laptop, then typed in a new search. "Warp Darkmatter." The Galactipedia article used an old Star Command photo, taken only two years ago. Erin stared at the picture – Warp was an undeniably handsome man. The grin he wore was warm and friendly, and his stormy blue-on-yellow eyes sparkled as if he hadn't a care in the galaxy. Warp Darkmatter – didn't – look – _evil_.

If anything, he looked like the kind of guy any girl would consider herself lucky to be with. Erin understood now how he could be such a ladies' man if fans were correct in inferring that from the TV series.

The article explained that Warp had been orphaned at the age of fifteen, and that details were still unknown as to how Zurg won him over in the first place. But Warp had excelled at the Academy, graduating _just_ behind Buzz. The article went on to list his many accomplishments and heroic deeds before it listed his crimes.

When she came to the crimes, she paused, unsure if she wanted to continue. Back home, she had always been a fan of Warp – even had something of a fangirl crush on him. She could get away with it back then: he hadn't been _real_ yet! Now he _was_ real, and she wasn't sure _what_ she thought about him.

At last, she exhaled sharply and continued to scroll down the page. She should know this.

Then she heard footsteps approaching, and she quickly pressed the Galactipedia main page so that no one would see what she had been looking at. Buzz entered the room, smiling. "Erin!"

She gave him a smile that she hoped wasn't guilty. "Hi, Buzz!"

He sat on her bed and folded his hands on his knee. "I got those papers signed. We're sibs now."

The pure, childlike joy in Erin's face shone past her bandages. "Buzz…" She stopped and swallowed. "Buzz, you have no idea what this means to me. You really don't."

It must have been her vulnerability that really drew her to him. He _wanted_ to protect her. "Maybe not. But, umm…" He looked down at his folded hands and shook his head. "I lost what I was going to say."

She placed her small, uninjured left hand on his two big hands. "We'll take it slow, okay?" she said softly. "It'll still take time for us to get used to this."

"You make it sound like marriage," Buzz said quietly, smirking.

Erin laughed softly. "Well, it's not, but it's still pretty important. Thank you, Buzz. For everything."

"You're welcome, Erin." Conscious of the fact that he had to start _being_ a brother, he leaned forward and gently gave her a hug, which she returned as strongly as she could.

Something unspoken passed between them, something less than _love_ but more than _like_. He held her like that for a while.

"_He's my __**brother**__."_

- Princess Leia to Han Solo, _Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi_

_I've heard it said_

_That people come into our lives_

_For a reason_

_Bringing something we must learn_

_And we are led to those_

_Who help us most to grow_

_If we let them_

_And we help them in return_

_Well, I don't know if I believe that's true_

_But I know I'm who I am today_

_Because I knew you_

- "For Good," _Wicked_

* * *

**Author's Notes and News:**

I know it was kinda slow, but I hope it was still enjoyable.

I'm definitely happy with the way Buzz and Erin's conversations turned out _this_ time around – I think they were more realistic and in-character. And in regard to their last conversation, I had the instrumental piece "Luke and Leia's Theme" in my head (so I finally played it while I typed the scene out) from _Return of the Jedi_. You know that soft music that plays when Luke tells Leia that they're brother and sister? That's it. You can hear it more fully if you let the movie credits play – it's right after the Ewok music.

And it was fun to write Warp again. He's great. A little more introspective, maybe, than I tend to get with him, but it was still fun to do it.

…Oh! Which reminds me. The maid Kari? Remember that I said that she's Lorean? Well, I just made up a name for the race that is humanoid and has those high pointed ears – like the pink-skinned girl dancing with Brainpod 57 in "Star Crossed."

The Spanish song was "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus." Cookies to whoever figured that out! And I'm not sure about my translation of the last line, but oh well.

So! **REVIEWS MAKE ME HAPPY, AND THEY HAVE A WAY OF HASTENING THE NEXT CHAPTER.** You _did_ know this, right? The reason it took me so long to get back to this one (because I'd started it MONTHS ago), was because I had to finish rewriting my fantasy novel for the Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest. I didn't make it, again, but I'm not surprised. I think we'll probably self-publish. Anyway, if it weren't for that, I might have already had this chapter and the _next_ long done. Oh well. Maybe I can still get the fifth online before the year's out.

Cherry Productions and I have been roleplaying Buzz/Mira on the XR fan club with her as Mira and me as Buzz. I love playing Buzz – he's so awesome! And Cherry's awesome, too!

IT IS SNOWING RIGHT NOW IT IS THE FIRST SNOW OF THE SEASON I LOVE SNOW LONG LIVE WHITE CHRISTMASES TAKE THAT, GLOBAL WARMING OH THAT'S RIGHT GLOBAL WARMING WAS ALL A SCAM ANYWAY HA-HA I LOVE MY SNOW AND IT LAUGHS AT GLOBAL WARMING


	6. Chapter 5: My World Is Beginning Today

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S, EVERYBODY!!!

...I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season, as well. God bless you all in the coming year.

**To my reviewer:**

**KJ:** You're probably like the _only_ person in the world who's seen that last rewritten chapter. Oh well!

Aww, thank you! I'm thrilled you love Chapter 3 so much – it's my favorite, too. For now, at any rate – we'll see what the future brings. =) And you actually _printed_ it out? Wow.

And thank you for your comments on Chapter 4! The awesome thing about the rewriting is that, thanks to a certain story we've been… ahem, _acting_ out… well, really, the rewriting and the roleplay are _both_ improving _each other_. And partly because of the roleplay, the relationship between Buzz and Erin is being fleshed-out and deepened, and I just love that. They have such great dynamics with each other, and it's not just because I'm writing it that way. Buzz is, of course, a very established character (though I'll admit, I think I _do_ tend to write him maybe a little more mature and levelheaded than is strictly canon). Meantime, Erin herself is more than a year old now, and her own character has done some growing up in the past year, but now she's also very established. She's actually grown to the point now where I'm _not_ developing her anymore – she acts and develops on her own, without any help from me. It's kind of like being a mom whose firstborn is leaving home – you're proud, but at the same time, you're kind of sad.

And about what you said about Erin looking at Warp's record… Uh-huh. I understand _completely_. We'll leave it at that. xD

Showtime!

* * *

**==Chapter 5==**

**My World Is Beginning Today**

_If I take one more step, it'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been._

- Sam Gamgee, _The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring_ (movie)

_Star Cruiser __**42**__, Alpha Quadrant; 4/5/3009_

It was a Friday, but that couldn't be the reason for Buzz's chipper attitude. Friday meant the end of the workweek, which meant two whole days in which Buzz Lightyear was _not_ at work, which was _not_ a good thing for him. Yet the man had been whistling an annoying tune all day – even when he escorted lawbreakers to the brig, for stars' sakes! – and Booster and XR didn't know what to make of it. Mira would simply close her eyes and try to block out the whistling – lucky Tangean.

Eventually, XR spoke up – but only because he lost the coin toss. "So… skipper… What's with the sunshine today? Something big happening?"

Buzz stopped whistling, and turned in his seat to face the little robot. "You bet, Ranger. Erin can leave the Medbay today."

"And go home with Mira?" Booster finished with an eager smile. "Wow, that's so great!"

"Yeah, you can say that – you won't have to share your apartment with her," Mira quipped. Seeing the slightly deflated look on her teammate's face, she shook her head and said, "I'm _kidding_, Booster."

"Betcha it's gonna be quite a culture shock, though," Buzz commented.

"Can't be any worse than the culture shock she got when she first arrived," Mira pointed out.

"Does she know yet if she wants to be a Ranger or not?" Booster asked Buzz.

"She's still thinking about it," Buzz replied. "You know it's a pretty big decision."

"What's so big about it?" XR frowned. "I mean, it's not like it's something so un-retractable that she can't change careers later down the road."

Buzz pinned his rookie with a sharp look. "True, but think about it, XR: Space Rangers swear an oath To Serve and Protect. To commit yourself to that for even _two years_ of your life is no small career choice."

* * *

_Medbay room 024, Star Command; 4:26pm or 1626 hours_

Erin was finally changing out of hospital gowns and into real clothes. Unfortunately, her old clothes had been burned beyond repair, so she was dressing into a female Ranger bodysuit in her size. Her once slightly-heavy body had thinned out quite a bit in her two and a half weeks of hospitalization – one of the few _benefits_ she'd received. The suit was warm and snug, and Erin reveled in the feeling of wearing pants again.

She moved to the mirror to brush her snarly curls, and stopped. Of course, she'd seen herself in the mirror before, while using the bathroom, but now she really studied herself. Her face – and her whole figure with it – was much leaner as a result of her weight loss, and honestly? She very much looked as though she'd been through a war.

Despite the fact that medicine in this day and age could heal burns and scars much more quickly, her skin was still a mass of light scar tissue. The most noticeable scar was a large patch that began at the right side of her forehead and moved down to cover most of the cheek below. The LGMs had assured her that the scars would heal soon, but it was still… odd? Disconcerting? Interesting?

She wasn't sure.

She lightly traced the pale lines all over her face, then reached up to finger comb her hair back. Her dark brown hair was just regaining its luster, and where once it had reached past her waist, it now hung merely to her shoulder blades. The LGMs had needed to cut the burned hair away when they'd first operated on her. She couldn't help but feel a bit wistful at the loss: like Jo of Louisa May Alcott's _Little Women_, Erin considered her long hair her only claim to beauty. It was thick and gloriously curly – dark brown for the most part, though she had several natural golden highlights, and the longer her hair grew, the more it took on an auburn tint.

She sighed despondently and picked up her brush to start working at the tangled mess, singing quietly as she did.

_I'm not too sure that I can go much father_

_I'm really not sure things are even getting better_

_I'm so tired of the me that has to disagree_

_And so tired of the me that's in control_

~*~

_I woke up to see the sun shining all around_

_How could it shine down on me?_

_You'd think that it would notice_

_I can't take anymore_

_I had to ask myself_

_"What's it really for?"_

* * *

Buzz came to a stop outside Erin's room and paused, hearing singing within.

_Everything I tried to do, it didn't matter_

_And now I might be better off just rolling over_

_'Cause you know I tried to hard but couldn't change a thing_

_And it hurts so much I might as well let go_

He closed his eyes briefly in pain and exhaled slowly. "Oh, Erin." It had been more than two weeks since she'd entered into his life so abruptly… more than two weeks since her world had changed forever.

_I can't really take the sun shining all around me_

_Why would it shine down on me?_

_You'd think that it would notice_

_I no longer believe_

_Can't help telling myself_

_"It don't mean a thing"_

She was still recovering.

Buzz couldn't blame her.

_I woke up to see the sun shining all around me_

_How could it shine down on me?_

_Sun shining all its beauty_

_Why would it shine down on me?_

_You'd think that it would notice_

_I can't take anymore_

_Just had to ask myself_

_"What's it really for~?"_

She had a beautiful voice. Buzz shook his head and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" she called.

"Buzz."

"Oh, Buzz! Come in!"

He opened the door and entered, leaning against the frame; and she whirled around to grace him with a smile. "I'm almost ready to go!" she told him. "Is Mira ready?"

"Ready as she'll ever be," Buzz smiled back. "And hi to you, too."

"Sorry." Erin's smile turned embarrassed. "I'm just excited to get out of here – well, a little scared, too."

"You don't have to be," he assured her, standing and moving away from the door, letting it whir shut. "Mira and I are here for you – Booster and XR, too."

"I know," she said quietly, taking a few steps forward. She stopped in mid-stride and blinked, momentarily disoriented. "Man, I wish these 'unbalanced' flashes would stop." She blinked again and shook her head. "It's so different, seeing the world from three inches higher than I'm used to."

"I'll bet," Buzz frowned slightly. "It's weird to see _you_ taller. It shows – especially your neck."

"Because it's longer," she finished, nodding again. "I hafta say, it's great, though. The LGMs tell me that my back needs serious strengthening now, because they can reinforce my spine only so much and then it's up to my muscles. I'm gonna need some serious exercise."

"I think I can help with that," he nodded thoughtfully.

"I figured you could," Erin smirked, then her eyebrows knit together slightly. "I definitely need to do _something_ – I can't just lie around for the rest of my life feeling sorry for myself, or I'll go crazy." Her frown deepened as she added, almost to herself, "Craters, I won't even be able to lie around for the next month without going crazy – which is almost basically what the LGMs want me to do."

Buzz had to smirk then, because he knew all too well what that felt like. "One month, then exercise?"

"Yeah."

"Weeell… that might not be so bad. I mean, it'll take you a while anyway to orientate yourself to… um…"

"'Another time, another place'?" Erin finished, massaging her right upper arm. "True." She sighed. "Which brings up something else: lately, I can't keep my mind off of going back to Michigan."

"Give it a week, Sis," Buzz advised. "We can go next Saturday – craters, we can take the whole team with us if you want."

"A _week?_" she echoed. She started to sway dramatically, falling back upon her bed – hand resting on her forehead and eyes closed. "Agh, the suspense is gonna kill me!"

"If culture shock doesn't kill you first," Buzz quipped.

She lifted her head slightly and opened one eye to pin him with a glare. "You're a very funny man."

He shrugged. "I try." Then he had to duck a pillow hurled at him. "Hey!"

Erin laughed. "C'mon, Buzz, haven't you ever had a pillow fight?"

"No!"

"Neither have I," she grinned, "so let's have a first!" And she hurled her second pillow at him, which left her with just one more.

Buzz growled slightly, muttering something under his breath about impossible teenage girls, and flung one of the pillows back at Erin, then the other. The first hit the wall above her head and dropped on her back as she ducked. As she shrieked, the second _just_ missed her bed. She pitched one of the pillows back at Buzz, then another. Both were in the wind-up for the next toss when the door opened again.

"Uh, B-Buzz?" The sight that met Mira Nova's eyes was a rather comical one – at least, as far as her captain was concerned. For said captain now wore a sheepish expression as he stood poised to hurl a pillow in Erin's direction.

Then Buzz managed to pull himself together just enough to lower the pillow and resume a more casual stance, though the sheepish look remained. "Uh, Mira, um, Erin's almost ready to go. Right, Erin?"

"Yeah, right," Erin echoed, disembarking from her bed and hurrying over to her backpack to make sure that she had everything. "Umm, I actually think I'm… all set… Yep. Ready to go." She pulled her backpack on and saluted casually at Mira.

Mira's eyes, under knitted brows, darted back and forth between Buzz and Erin. Surely the great Buzz Lightyear had not been stooping to a _pillow fight_, of all things? But it sure looked like that was _exactly_ what he had been doing. Sweet mother of Venus, what was having a new little sister _doing_ to him? Not that it was a bad thing, but it _was_ kinda weird. "M'kaaay," Mira said slowly, then shook herself out of her daze, straightening. "Right." She swung her key-ring around her index finger. "Well… let's go."

* * *

Mira deliberately set a slow pace to the parking deck, aware that Erin would want to soak in the sights. After all, the girl had not been outside the Medbay since she'd first woken up here, and there was a lot to see. Mira herself began to see the station through new eyes once more, as she had almost three years ago when she'd first entered the Academy.

Erin's senses hungrily absorbed it all. The slippery hall floors were the first thing she'd noticed; next, the gleaming white corridors and the crisp green and purple accents. And if she wasn't mistaken, that was fluorescent lighting above in the ceiling. Everything was so sparkling, as if the station were brand-new – a tribute to her janitorial system.

But once they left the Medbay… "Oh _wow_," Erin breathed.

People of all descriptions passed before her eyes. Feline, reptilian, saurian, avian, humanoid… different colors of skin, hair, and eyes… So many different races, and she didn't even know a fraction of them. Further down the hall, one woman – a human blonde – called out, "Hey, Mira!"

Mira turned at the shout and waved, "Hi, Janet!"

Janet waved back and continued on her way. Erin turned to Mira and asked, "Who's that?"

"Captain Janet Astrelle," Mira replied. "She's one of the few women who's made it to the rank of Captain, and she has her own team. She and I are kinda friends."

"_Kinda_?" Erin echoed archly.

"Well, yeah," said Mira, slightly abashed. "I mean, I guess we'd be pretty good friends if we spent more time with each other." Recovering, she began to stride forward once more. "But life is busy, y'know?"

"I hear ya." And they were off, again.

At the same time, it was like _Star Wars_ and _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command_, and yet totally unlike anything she had ever seen before.

It was better.

It was _real_.

_She_ was really _there_.

Her heart was throbbing so quickly that it could have beaten its way out of her chest. She was alive, alive, _alive_ – _here_ and _now_.

So many thoughts and emotions swam inside her that she was suddenly dizzy from it all. She stopped, swaying, and Buzz was instantly behind her, holding her and saying something in a concerned tone. Mira was right in front of her, also speaking. For a few moments, Erin couldn't make out the words. "I… Buzz, Mira, I…"

"Erin?"

"Erin, are you all right?"

"Erin, can you hear me?"

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Thirty-two," she managed to grin, eliciting frowns from her self-appointed guardians. "I'm okay, guys – I just got dizzy for a minute, there."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Mira asked, and Buzz asked at the same time, "Would you like me to carry you?"

Erin straightened immediately. "I'm fine. And I _don't_ need to be carried, thanks."

The walk continued until Buzz called another halt. "Wait. There's something I want Erin to see."

Mira frowned, then realized _where_ exactly they were; and the frown melted into a look of understanding.

"What is it, Buzz?" Erin asked, cocking her head slightly.

He grinned at her, his blue eyes dancing with a secret. "Close your eyes."

"Oookaaay…"

But she obeyed, and Buzz led her through a door. They took a few steps that echoed, then he announced, "All right – you can look now."

She opened her eyes… and immediately, her breath caught. Below the station lay a beautiful blue-green planet, laced with white and grey clouds. Above the planet spread a vast ebony field, spangled with brilliant stars.

Outer Space.

She exhaled shakily, and took one uncertain step forward, still in awe. She just stood there, gazing in silence at the incredible majesty before her.

At last, she turned slightly to Buzz, wonder shining in her brown eyes. "It's…"

"I know." He wasn't looking at her – he was looking out the transparisteel, too. His azure eyes were bright but soft. "When I first became a Ranger… I came here often." He glanced down at her with a slight smile. "It's a good place to be alone, and to think."

For the first time, Erin studied the room they stood in. It was large and mostly empty, except for one couch, two armchairs, and a coffee table in the midst of them. A sort of observatory.

She took a deep breath, steadier this time. "Thank you. So much."

Buzz said nothing, merely smiled at her and wound his arm around her waist as he led her back into the corridor.

Mira waited in silence, contemplative, her cerulean eyes following the movement of her captain and his sister. This was a side of Buzz Lightyear that she had never seen before – truth to tell, hadn't even so much as _considered _that it _could_ exist. This newcomer… drew out something warm and gentle in him, and Mira could tell that already, they were growing close.

She didn't understand why her own heart ached just a little at the thought of it.

* * *

It was Erin's first time flying _consciously_ through space, even though it was simply from the station to the planet, which was not a long ride. But actually being _out there_ just took her breath away… She had the vague, amused thought that if she had many more experiences that made her breath catch, she would die of asphyxiation.

It was so… so _big_ out there. Empty. Lonely, even. But not in a bad way.

With that last thought, she figured that her brain was overtired, what with all that she'd been through. She wasn't making much sense to herself.

She shifted in her seat in Mira's silver Cayona Firespitter. "Sweet ride," she commented quietly.

Mira flicked a brief glance at her passenger. "Thanks. Birthday present from my dad."

Erin grinned softly. "He must trust you a lot to give you something like _this_."

"Have you been studying up on 31st century cars in the MedBay?" The princess's tone was not accusatory, merely curious.

"Nope. Don't know all that much about cars in general," Erin admitted frankly. "But this baby just _looks_ fast, y'know?"

"I know," Mira grinned. "It was love at first sight for me."

"I'll bet." Pause. "So… um, _does_ your dad actually feel comfortable with letting you drive this?"

Mira couldn't help smirking. "Not really. I mean, he knows that I'm a more-than-capable pilot, but then again… he's my dad, you know?"

"Yep. My dad was like that, too."

They lapsed back into silence for a couple of minutes as Mira entered one of the skylanes, headed down into the atmosphere of Capital Planet. The lanes were just about jammed-full with after-work traffic, which slowed Mira down but gave Erin another sight to see. The skylane they drove through was a lane for cars and smaller ships, but nearby wound a much larger lane for the big craft.

"Whoa," she breathed, watching a majestic navy-blue craft drift through the other lane. The ship was shaped almost like a clam shell with three fins at the back – on top, and on either side. The enormous thrusters in the back – Erin realized that one could drive _two_ of Mira's Firespitter in with room to spare – spewed blue-white fire.

Curious, Mira followed her line of sight to the ship and smiled. "That's the Lorrean Senator's ship, the _Serendipity_."

"It's _gorgeous_," Erin said in the same awed but adoring tone as before.

Mira nodded, returning her attention to the lane. Craters, these cars were moving too slow! She sighed in frustration.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just this darn slow lane, is all."

"Oh." Pause. "Mira?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure you're okay with this? Taking me in as your roommate, I mean?"

"Of course!" Mira frowned slightly. "You need a place to stay, and I don't think Buzz's house is the best home for you."

"Mm."

Then Mira understood. "You think I'm just doing this out of charity?"

The younger girl's voice was very quiet as she said, "I don't know."

Mira sighed gustily and shook her head, reaching over to briefly squeeze Erin's hand. "M'kay, look, kiddo, I'm doing this for two reasons: a) because Buzz just about ordered me to – and believe me, there are times when you _definitely_ don't want to cross him – and b) I like you a lot. No, I haven't spent as much time with you yet as Buzz has already, and no, we aren't exactly what you'd call friends yet; but I will and we will, okay?"

Erin's lightly-scarred face broke into a grin. "Okay."

* * *

Like Star Command itself, Erin found Capital City to be a cross somewhere between the cartoon, _Star Wars_, and real life – and imagined that it was something like driving through a sci-fi movie set that was actually _built_ instead of blue screen.

The buildings were certainly more colorful than original Earthling architecture, utilizing mostly blues, red, oranges, and yellows. Erin wondered if her own race was the one people in all the galaxy who used more grounded colors in their designs. Skyscrapers dominated the capital's skyline, but below, there were many rounded and circular buildings that were totally unlike anything Erin knew of her world's many different architectural styles. Even so, there was the occasional building that seemed to be intentionally designed in what was known as the "Old Earthling" style – which basically covered any kind of building made in Erin's day, anywhere in the world.

The city herself was enormous, second only to Tradeworld. The entire eastern seaboard of the old United States had been eaten up by Capital City, stretching from Maine to Florida. At its widest point, it touched the Ohio River.

The Milky War had left most of Earth's cities devastated, but parts of Manhattan and Washington, D.C. had survived intact. When the time came to build a capital city, the construction started in the almost-leveled New York City, and quickly ran down the coastline. In less than half a century, Manhattan and D.C. were connected, and the city continued to spread. However, after two centuries of extraterrestrial control of planet Earth, humans were justly concerned that the never-ending growth of the city would eventually devour the old continental U.S.A. The Confederacy of Sovereign Planets, or the CSP, drew up boundary lines for the city and her suburbs, and no one could add on to the city beyond that. So when the time came for new suburbs, they were actually implemented in the sites of other formerly-great Earthling cities – London, Paris, Tokyo, and Hong-Kong, to name a few. Capital City was the only city in the galaxy possessing suburbs all over her planet.

The sun was low in the sky when Mira finally pulled into the parking lot of a sleek apartment building. It was a deep golden color – like a ripe wheat field just before sunset – and just as futuristic as any other structure Erin had seen thus far. "Here it is," Mira announced, turning off the car and stepping out. "Home sweet home."

Erin stepped out, took her backpack and purse, and shut the passenger door. "It's beautiful."

Mira smiled sheepishly. "Well, um, my apartment _itself_ isn't quite so nice – not-not that it isn't _inherently_ nice, but, you know, I haven't cleaned it up completely yet, not saying that I'm messy, but it just isn't the cleanest right now –"

"Mira, I'm sure it's just fine!" Erin laughed, holding up a hand to stop her companion. "Let's just get in. I'm _starving_."

As Mira led the way inside, to the lift, and up to the twentieth floor, she asked over her shoulder, "You don't mind speed-dial pizza, do you? I _was_ going to pick up something while we were going through town, but I decided I didn't want to deal with the traffic any longer than I had to."

"Speed-dial's fine," Erin assured her. The bell on the lift chimed, and the two girls stepped out.

"Right over here," Mira told her, heading to the fourth door on the left. She took out her keycard and inserted it into the lock. The door opened, and she took the card back out and stepped in.

"Aww, Mira, it's really cute!" Erin gushed, setting her backpack down in a chair by the door. The apartment could well have belonged to a working girl from Erin's time, if not for the telltale signs of better technology here and there. It looked altogether snug and cozy.

"Eh, it's not much," Mira shrugged, "but it's my own, you know? C'mon, I'll show you your room."

The door opened into the living room, which in turn was open to the kitchen, which sat just beyond a coat closet. Beyond the two rooms was a short hallway, on which were four doors: a laundry room, a bathroom, and two bedrooms. "I used to use this room to dump whatever stuff was lying around," Mira explained, "but I don't really need that. So… what do you think?"

The walls were off-white, the rug was navy-blue, the curtains were the same color, and the bed, nightstand, desk and chair, and dresser were all metal. It was small and plain, but Erin's artistic eyes could see right away that it had the potential to be a sweet little room. She turned to her new roommate. "I like it," she grinned.

"Good!" Mira smiled, obviously relieved. "And hey, first thing tomorrow, we need to see about getting you a new wardrobe. You're taller than you used to be, but I think you're just a _leetle_ too short to _comfortably_ fit into my clothes."

"Oh, just a little!" Erin agreed, laughing. Mira was actually 5'9", a full 6 inches taller than Erin.

"M'kay, well, you put your stuff away, and I'll do that speed-dial."

"Sounds good." Erin sauntered over to her window and looked out. She had a magnificent view of the Capital City skyline. All that gleaming metal in various rainbow colors made the city look like a forest of jeweled spires.

Then she moved away and began to unpack.

* * *

Sleep did not come easily that night. Reading e-books on her PDA sometimes helped Erin to fall asleep, but she was reading past midnight. Eventually, she had to give it up, due to the fact that her battery was losing power. So she tossed incessantly in bed, hot and too awake. Sometime around two o'clock, she finally managed to fall into a fitful sleep, from which she woke again at five and could not manage to go back.

So she got out of bed and dressed in some old clothes Mira was letting her borrow. A forest-green hooded sweatshirt over a heather-grey tee topped a pair of faded blue jeans. Then came a pair of Gemini mocs that were slightly too roomy.

She'd never done this before. Had never been in public without an adult or a "safety buddy." Not that this would exactly be _public_, but…

She paused with her hand on the door terminal, felt a wry smile creep up on her. "_It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door,_" she whispered. "_You step onto the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to._"

She palmed the door open and shut it behind her.

* * *

_Perelandra Avenue, Artemis District, Capital City; 5:34am CCT, 4/6/3009_

Capital City was at her quietest in the hours just before dawn. A lone car passed by the apartment as Erin stepped out, its only noise a soft, wind-like hush. The air was so still – she would not have believed that one could find such peace in the midst of a city, still less a city as enormous as the capital.

It was cold and dark yet. A handful of stars twinkled fitfully in the dark blue sky above, one brighter, steadier star in the midst of them. Erin smiled softly up at that star, knowing exactly what it was: a certain space station.

She exhaled in a puff of air and stepped away from the apartment. She had no destination in mind, but she made sure to keep track of where she was so that she could find her way back. Her feet took her down the street and a block over, till she was standing in a large park.

The leaves on the trees and bushes were still growing, and it was all very green and fresh. With a bittersweet pang, she realized that it was the first green she'd seen since early last fall. When she had… _left_… home, it had been late March with snow still on the ground.

She'd almost forgotten how much she missed that green.

She wandered around the park for a bit, clambering up higher ground until she came to a bluff. It provided a wonderful view of both the park and the city skyline beyond. In the east, the sky held a soft violet tinge as it began to blush toward dawn.

Cautious, she lowered herself at the edge of the bluff and sat with her legs hanging over the side, swinging in empty air. There was something exhilarating about it. She leaned to the right, her elbow on the ground and supporting her. A gentle breeze played with the leaves and ruffled her hair.

A tune that she had been quietly humming now took on words in the form of one of her favorite songs:

_With a sigh, you turn away  
_

_With a deepening heart_

_No more words to say  
_

_You will find_

_That the world has changed forever_

~*~

_And the trees are now turning from green to gold_

_And the sun is now fading  
_

_I wish I could hold you closer_

"I've seen a lot of strange things in my life," came a masculine voice behind her, and she whipped around, "but I've never seen an angel in blue jeans before."

At the edge of the trees stood a tall, well-built human man with shaggy brown hair and brown eyes. Instinctively tensing, Erin shot back, "Neither have I."

The stranger threw up his hands defensively. "Relax, kid, it was a compliment – you have a great voice."

Erin relaxed slightly, though her tone was still a bit wary. "Thank you."

"Do your parents know you're out alone this early?"

She wanted to retort, "I'm not _that_ young." Instead, she said simply, "They're dead."

She saw a brief… _something_ pass over the man's face, but it was gone as quickly as it came. "I'm sorry to hear that, Miss."

His voice. It sounded familiar. She'd _heard_ that voice before, _somewhere_, but she couldn't _place_ it…

"Thanks," she replied, a bit gruffly.

"Mind if I join you?"

Common sense said _no_. Curiosity said _try it_. Common sense retorted _curiosity killed the cat_. Curiosity returned _satisfaction brought it back_. Common sense said _your loss_.

Curiosity urged her to take the road less traveled.

So she did.

"I guess."

He lowered himself to her right at a respectful distance; but at this proximity, she could now tell from his features that he was around thirty. "So… thinking?"

"Sorta," she shrugged. "How 'bout you?"

"This is my old neighborhood."

"Taking a trip down Memory Lane?"

"Sorta," he shrugged, and smiled.

She laughed. If this had been back in _her_ time, her father would have had a _fit_ of _astronomical_ proportions. Then again, _had_ this been back in her time, she wouldn't even be doing it – being so casual with a strange man in the middle of a park before sunrise. In general, she avoided men she didn't know.

But she had the strangest feeling that she _knew_ this man. She couldn't say how or where, but there it was. More than that, she just instinctively _knew_… that she could trust him.

They lapsed into a silence that wasn't really comfortable or awkward – it just was.

After a few minutes, the man turned to her with a lopsided smile, and she couldn't stop her heart from fluttering slightly. No one had ever looked at her like _that_ before. "Would you mind singing again?" he asked in that husky, agonizingly familiar voice.

She shook her head, hoping that she wasn't blushing. "No, I… I guess I don't mind. Any song in particular?"

He shook his head mutely.

"O-okay." _Get a GRIP, Erin! Okay_… She thought for a moment, then nodded to herself and began:

_Above all powers_

_Above all kings_

_Above all nature and all created things_

_Above all wisdom and all the ways of man_

_You were here before the world began_

_Above all kingdoms_

_Above all thrones_

_Above all wonders the world has ever known_

_Above all wealth and treasures of the earth_

_There's no way to measure what You're worth_

_Crucified_

_Laid behind a stone_

_You lived to die_

_Rejected and alone_

_Like a rose_

_Trampled on the ground_

_You took the fall_

_And thought of me_

_Above all…_

He was staring at her with such _intensity_… She cut herself off on the last note and ducked her head.

"Don't stop," he said quietly.

"That was the end." She wanted to squirm beneath his gaze.

He seemed to notice that and tried to lighten the mood. "Are you sure you're real? I mean, with a voice like that… wow!"

The tension released, Erin laughed. "Oh, believe me, my legs know that they're real," she nodded, smirking. "They hurt like the dickens. I just, um, had a bad accident, and I haven't walked that much lately."

He nodded back as if he understood. "So how did your boss take that?"

She blushed. "I don't have a job. I'm not 'unemployed' – I've just never had a job."

"Oh." Now it was his turn to be embarrassed. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay – you didn't know."

He nodded again, slowly. "So, what would you like to do?"

She cocked her head. "Well, I _was_ going to be a writer. Now I'm wondering, though, if I should attend Star Command Academy and become a Space Ranger."

His eyebrows skyrocketed. "From author to Ranger?" He whistled.

She laughed.

Shaking his head, he added, "Maybe you should stick with writing. The Aca – from what I've heard, that academy is tough."

"Well _yeah_ – I mean, it _is_ paramilitary."

"Mm-hmm. And – no offense – but I just can't picture you as a cop slash soldier."

"You've known me for all of ten minutes and you're making judgments already?" she shot back defensively.

"No, of course not!" he protested. "I just… I just think that… you could do a lot better than being a Space Ranger. It's not the greatest job in the universe."

"You sound like _been there, done that_."

He shrugged.

"You were a Space Ranger?"

"I was in law-enforcement." He was evading.

"But were you a Space Ranger?" she pressed.

A pause, and then… "No."

She took a deep breath, let it out. "Then how do you know?"

"I just _do_, okay?" he snapped. "Don't get me wrong – there are some good people at Star Command and the whole thing has potential. But there aren't _enough_ good people, and Nebula capitulates to the government too often."

"Well, he _has_ to," she pointed out.

"I know, but when Star Command was created, it was given a lot of constitutional rights, some of which allow Star Command to act on its own authority under certain circumstances. You know that time a month ago when Buzz Lightyear was framed for attempted assassination of Madame Prez?"

Erin nodded, having discovered earlier that the incident had happened just a couple of weeks before… Io.

"Okay, well, Star Command had the constitutional rights to protect her poster-boy – not to mention Junior Commander – more than she did. The Commander forewent those rights to avoid some political messiness. He sold out his own protégé."

Quietly indignant, Erin scrambled to her feet. "I don't believe you."

His eyes were suddenly soft and even a bit sympathetic. "Sorry, kid, but it's true."

"How do you even know all this in the first place?"

He rose to his feet, a good eight or so inches taller than she. "I stay informed."

She gave him a hard look, then turned on her heel and began to walk away.

"Wait – Miss!" he called.

She glanced back over her shoulder.

"I'm sorry if I upset you. I just… If you're going to walk into a situation, you need to do it with both eyes open."

"Thank you for your concern," she said coolly, and turned once more to leave.

"My name's Hayden Shaw."

"Pleased to meet you."

"What's _your _name?"

She sighed. This guy didn't give up, did he? She said the first thing that came to mind. "Mara Jade."

She heard him laugh behind her. It was a nice laugh, warm and rich and real. "You've got all her feistiness, all right, but Mara Jade's a redhead."

She couldn't help laughing as she turned back to him. The sun was just appearing over the horizon. "Thanks. Hey, I could always dye my hair."

"Nah, leave it the way it is," he advised. "Red hair looks best on redheads."

She snickered. "Are you ever going to let me go home?"

"Nope!" he grinned, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "I'm gonna kidnap you and we'll elope."

She laughed again. "You're an odd kind of guy, wanting to elope with a girl you've known for half an hour, tops."

He shrugged. "You have to admit, I've got good taste, though."

"Oh, but definitely." She glanced back in the direction of the apartment and sighed. "Look, um, _Hayden_ – I really should get back. I mean, if my roommate wakes up and finds me gone, she'll be worried."

He nodded reluctantly. "Okay, okay, I'll let you go, Mara."

She giggled.

"Meet you back here Monday morning?"

"Depends."

"I'll be here all week."

She smiled. "Okay."

"Bye, Mara."

She shook her head, shifted her jaw, and smiled. "You're not going to let that go, are you?"

"Nope. Not until you tell me your real name."

"Not likely, mister," she told him, putting her hands on her hips. "I've gotta go – I'll see you around."

"See ya," he nodded.

She nodded back and reentered the woods. As she retraced her steps to the apartment, she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that she was missing something.

_I have always been certain_

_Things are not always what they seem_

_Though the heavens stop turning_

_I'll be holding on to our dream_

– "Fly Away," performed by Emma Townsend for _The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns_

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Another rewrite in less than two months! I'm rockin'!

AND THAT ALSO MY LONGEST CHAPTER _EVER!!_ WOW!!

…I know there was kind of a lot of singing, and I hope you don't mind. It wasn't something I really _intended_ – it just turned out that way. Oh, and I own NONE of the songs used - maybe someday, I'll actually credit all the songs and quotes I use, lol.

Mara Jade is a wonderful Star Wars character that belongs to Timothy Zahn. There, I credited that much. =)

Random: roleplaying with KJ as Warp, Cherry as Mira (and Woody), EEZ as Zurg, and Steel as Hellboy (and myself as Buzz, Erin, Booster, XR – and sometimes others, as the story demands) is _awesome_. I love RP-ing in just this small (but, I think, fairly close-knit) group of talented people. You guys rock – all of you!

**REVIEWS THRILL ME TO NO END.** You want to see more, and faster, right? **PRESS THAT BUTTON!** =D


	7. Chapter 6: The Other Side of Time

**To My Reviewer:** (Yes, only _one_ – ain't it sad? *hint-hint*)

Well, I already told you this (sort of), but I might as well say it for the record: the "nice guy in the park" _will_ "come to light" later. The pillow fight was fun to write (HA! that rhymed!), and the best part was the two winding up for the next round when Mira walks in on them. Lol! …You and your sis's fight for the remote? …Wow. ;-) Thank you as always, and I'm sure you'll enjoy this new chapter!

**==Chapter 6==**

**The Other Side of Time**

_I do, I do emeregere dal fondo per lottare e poi (__I do, I do emerge from the depths to fight and then)  
Salire in alto più che mai __(Rise higher than ever before)  
I do, I do guardare nel futuro e sorridere (__I do, I do look towards the future and smile)  
Con una nuova identità (__With a new identity)_

- "I Do," Yoko Kanno / Ilaria Graziano (_Ghost in the Shell S.A.C. 2__nd__ GIG_)

_Women's apparel store Galaxie Chic!, Capital City; 2:46pm CCT, (Saturday) 4/6/3009_

"Erin, how 'bout this?"

Erin stared hard at the little 'bot. "XR, there is _no_ way you _ever_ going to see me wearing something _that_ skimpy."

Undeterred, XR held up another dress. "Okay, how 'bout _this_?"

"Over my dead body, XR."

"Fine, fine! Picky, picky, picky!" XR huffed, crossing his arms over his chassis.

"Remind me again _why_ we had to bring him along?" Mira muttered under her breath.

"'Cause he would have been bored to death otherwise at Star Command," Erin muttered back.

"Better him than us," Mira retorted, still quietly so that XR couldn't hear.

"Can I help it if I have fashion sense?" XR protested, not hearing the girls' exchange.

Erin rolled her eyes. "Oh, you have fashion sense, all right – the wrong kind."

Mira sighed. "Just ignore him."

"_Ignore_ me??"

"How can I?" Erin protested. "He's being an absolute pain!"

XR reared back. "I resent that!"

"I resent _you_!" Erin expostulated.

Mira realized that a nasty retort was going to be coming next from XR, and she hastily intervened. "Hey, guys, guys! Chill!"

"But he –"

"But she –"

"Ah-ah-ah! Not. Another. Word," Mira warned. A beat passed, and then: "XR, whatever Erin picks _her_ decision, not yours. Erin, I suggest that _you_ get used to XR. Okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," XR mumbled, deflated.

"Yes, ma'am," Erin nodded in a tone just as defeated.

"_Thank_ you." Mira sighed, rubbed the bridge of her nose, and reached for a dress on the rack. "Erin, what about this one?"

Erin studied the pale blue floral dress. "Mmm, it's _pretty_, all right, but… I don't know, floral's not really my style."

"Are you sure?" Mira gave the dress a once-over. "I think you'd look really pretty in it."

Erin shook her head.

"Mm, all right." As Mira returned the dress to the rack, a thought struck her. She searched for the next size up and pulled it out. "I think I'm going to get myself this one."

Erin laughed. "Fine by me."

XR wheeled over, turning his head up and down to inspect. "Ohhh… yeees… very nice, Mira. _Excellent_ choice – you'll look _gorgeous_ in that, reallybringsoutyoureyes."

"Thanks, XR," Mira smirked in amusement.

Erin perused the racks further and pulled out a black leather, short-sleeved jumper. "Mira, what do you think?" she asked, holding it up to herself.

XR whistled.

"Oh, definitely!" Mira agreed. "That really brings out the brown in your hair."

"Yup." Erin carefully draped the dress in the hover-buggy, then turned to XR with a knowing smile. "So glad you approve, _mi hermanito_."

"Ermoneeto?" XR echoed.

"_Hermanito_ – my little brother," she grinned. "That's who you remind me of – my brothers."

Mira giggled at the rare sight of her robot teammate left speechless.

Erin simply moved on to another rack.

* * *

_Perelandra Park, Artemis District, Capital City; 8:59am CCT, 4/8/09_

Come Monday morning, Mira had to go back to work, and Erin was absolutely alone for the first time since she'd… _arrived_ here. At first, she put the dishes in the dish-cleaner and put them away, but that took only about half an hour. She could go web-surfing, but she was in a restless mood this morning, and kept wandering the apartment. Finally, she grabbed her keycard and left.

She found herself heading back to the park that she'd visited just two days ago. All around her, the signs of spring were growing stronger. One fenced tree was just starting to blossom – she made a mental note to take a snapshot of it when it was in full bloom.

She shoved her hands into the pockets of her black hooded pullover and began to jog. In a few minutes, she reached the spot where she and Hayden Shaw had met, and stopped, trying to catch her breath. It felt good, though, to feel breathless like that. The air was so fresh here, in this little oasis of greenery.

As she scanned the area, she spotted a piece of paper taped to a tree branch. Curious, she pulled the paper down and read it.

_Hi, Mara…_

"Hayden?" she frowned.

_After we split the other day, I realized that I had been pretty forward, and I'm sorry. You're a nice kid – you deserve better than that. So I won't try to meet up with you. If you want to keep in touch, here's my email address: _luv2sh00t () galaxy (dot) net_. If not, I understand._

_Sincerely,_

_Hayden Shaw_

Erin pressed her right hand to her cheek as she finished reading. "Oh wow…" She stuffed the note into her left pocket and sighed, looking out at the view. Somewhere behind her, a bird trilled.

"'Love to shoot,' 'galaxy-dot-net,'" she said quietly. "Mr. Shaw, you're turning out to be quite an interesting man." _Get myself an email, don't use my real name… yeah…_

If she hadn't been curious about Hayden Shaw before, she was now.

* * *

_Mira's apartment, Capital City; 3:33pm CCT_

Earlier, Erin had set herself up with a new email account on and had sent Hayden an acceptance of his apology. Now she was reading his fast reply – sort of. It was just a short note, and what she was _really_ looking at was the photo of himself that he used for his avatar.

For one thing? His eyes were hazel rather than brown. For another? He was seriously, ruggedly cute – reminded her of Harrison Ford in his Han Solo/early Indiana Jones days… right down to the lopsided grin.

_O be still, my heart,_ she told herself wryly.

* * *

_Cosmo's Diner; 6:02pm CCT, (Tuesday) 4/9/09_

Buzz shoved a printout sheet over the table in Erin's direction. "What's this?" she asked, picking the sheet up and scanning it.

"I checked with Dr. Animus to see if he'd have some kind of list of questions about life and goals," Buzz explained, "and he gave me this. I thought it might help you with your, ahem, career decision."

Erin nodded as she studied the questions.

_What makes me happy?_

_What activities, possessions, daily actions – however trivial – delight me, make me feel energized and optimistic?_

_What actions make me feel as if I count in my own eyes?_

Similar questions filled both sides of the sheet. "Maybe it will," she mused. "Thanks, Buzz."

"No problem."

At that moment, Cosmo appeared at their table – all five hundred-odd pounds of him. "Hey-hey, there, guys!" he greeted them jovially. "And who is pretty new girl?"

Erin was pretty sure she was blushing again.

Buzz smiled widely up at the saurian alien. "Cosmo, I'd like you to meet my newly adopted sister, Erin Frame."

"Ah, Erin! Welcome to Cosmo's!" Cosmo smiled.

"Thanks, Cosmo," Erin smiled back. "It's nice to meet you."

"Now then, what'll orders be for de dinner?"

While Booster, Buzz, and XR placed their orders, Erin turned to Mira, who sat beside her. "I don't know what to get," she whispered.

Mira thought quickly. "Fried chicken platter," she whispered back. "It's really good."

"Okay."

Erin was not disappointed – Cosmo's fried chicken tasted like good old KFC. But while she was still enjoying her dinner, XR popped a question that had been bothering her. "So, Erin, if you go to college, how are you going to pay for it?"

Glancing at her brother, she said slowly, "I… I'm not sure."

"I'll pay for it," Buzz said firmly.

Erin stared at him. "But, Buzz, you said you didn't –"

"That wasn't strictly true," he interrupted, "but I'd rather not discuss my finances right now." His tone brooked no argument. "I'll fund you, but once you start coming home with your paycheck – whatever you decide to do – I cut support. Deal?"

"I don't really have much of a choice, do I?" Erin replied, quietly dry. "Deal."

"The big problem is transportation," Mira pointed out. "I mean, I use my car to drive to Star Command, so that's out."

"It's not like I _could_ use it, anyway," Erin muttered.

Buzz heard her. "What was that?"

_Shoot_. "I just, um… I mean, even if I _could_, I couldn't do it, um, _legally_," she faltered.

"Do _what_ legally?" Buzz pressed, blue eyes narrowing. Erin had noticed that his eyes seemed to shift shades with his mood.

Erin sank as far down into her seat as she could. "Drive," she winced.

"You don't know how to drive?" Buzz asked, astonished.

"No! I don't know how to drive!" she burst out. "My dad never got around to teaching me, okay?"

"We just didn't know, Erin," Mira said soothingly.

"Yeah, I know, I know. It's just… it's kinda embarrassing."

"I'll bet," XR commented.

"XR!" Mira and Booster chided.

Buzz slowly blew out a breath. "All right, then, Erin – a week from this Saturday, I'm gonna start teaching you how to drive."

Erin slowly raised her hand to her forehead in casual salute. "Yes, sir."

"How's she going to get to wherever she's going, though?" Booster asked.

"Well, if it's not that far, I could drop her off in the morning and pick her back up later," Mira offered. "Just until she gets a license – then she can rent a car or something."

Buzz mulled that over. "Hopefully, she'll have her license by then; but, yeah, I guess that'd work. You'd probably have to get going earlier though – both of you."

Erin grimaced. "Why'd I have to open my big mouth?"

* * *

_(Friday) 3/13/09_

Not all small towns in America – or even on-planet, in general – had been swallowed up by the big cities. The Southwest Michigan town of Paw Paw – Erin's _hometown_ – still existed, even in the size Erin had known. Some towns simply remained more or less the way they had always been.

Technically, if one were driving from Capital City to enter Michigan through its southwestern corner, it would be going the long way. But they were entering by the only route Erin knew, and Mira preferred that they rely on Erin's memory rather than Buzz's less-than-stellar planetary navigational skills.

And _Erin_ preferred going that way, so that settled it.

Team Lightyear plus Erin were packed into the team's fuchsia-colored van, and Buzz drove. Erin sat in the passenger seat, while Mira, Booster, and XR were rather awkwardly packed in the back.

Despite Mira's discomfort, she felt as if they were taking a journey back through time.

Erin was quiet through most of the drive, and didn't point out any directions until they had actually entered the area with which she was familiar. But once they crossed the Indiana-Michigan borderline, Erin leaned forward in her seat, drinking in the sight of her home state, the only world she had ever known until now.

The town of St. Joseph was still there, merged now with Benton Harbor. The St. Joseph still fed into Lake Michigan, and barges and tugboats still docked at the river mouth. The part of Benton Harbor that had had a distinctly suburban flavor in Erin's day was now all city, and the suburban district was now further from the river.

But as much as the land had changed, the lake remained constant, ever as wild, beautiful, and untamed as the ocean itself.

Driving on old M-63 parallel to the lake, Buzz noticed Erin humming something. "What're you humming?"

"Huh? Oh. Just-just a song from a movie called _Gods and Generals_. It's about the beginning of the American Civil War. Seeing all this new scenery on old ground made me think of the first verse of the opening song."

"I think I've heard you hum it before," Mira interjected. "Would you mind singing it aloud?"

"Uh, I-I… I guess not," Erin said slowly, more than a bit self-conscious. "Buzz, do you mind?"

"Nah, go 'head. I'd like to hear it, too."

"Okay." Turning back to her window, Erin took a slow deep breath and began to sing.

_They say there's a place_

_Where dreams have all gone_

_They never said where_

_But I think I know_

_It's miles through the night_

_Just over the dawn_

_On the road that will take me home_

Her voice grew deeper and richer as she instinctively imitated the original singer, Mary Fahl…

_I know in my bones_

_I've been here before_

_The ground feels the same_

_Though the land's been torn_

_I've a long way to go_

_The stars tell me so_

_On this road that will take me home_

~*~

_Love waits for me 'round the bend_

_Leads me endlessly on_

_Surely sorrows shall find their end_

_And all our troubles will be gone_

_And I'll know what I've lost_

_And all that I've won_

_On this road that will take me home_

Erin stopped to point out the turn for Buzz: Red Arrow Highway, which would take them right into Paw Paw. Then she hummed the interlude to keep her timing right. Her next lines were hushed and soft.

_And when I pass by_

_Don't lead me astray_

_Don't try to stop me_

_Don't stand in my way_

_I'm bound for the hills_

_Where cool waters flow_

_On this road that will take me home_

Her voice grew thick, and Mira thought she could hear generations, even centuries of love and grief in the voice of one eighteen-year-old.

_Love waits for me 'round the bend_

_Leads me endlessly on_

_Surely sorrows shall find their end_

_And all our troubles will be gone_

_And we'll know what we've lost_

_And all that we've won_

_When the road finally takes me home_

_I'm going ho-o-ome_

_I'm going home_

_I'm – going home_

Erin's voice faded away, and no more words were spoken for a while.

* * *

_State of Michigan: Paw Paw Township; 11:02am CCT_

"Do you recognize any of this?"

"Buzz, it's literally been a thousand years. The old trees and buildings are gone and replaced – there are no landmarks for me to recognize!"

"You said your house was on _this_ side of town?"

Erin tilted her head. "Yeah – it wasn't far from this road."

"Okay," Buzz nodded. "Just… let me know when I'm getting close, okay?"

"Right. At least the roads are more or less unchanged – that's a relief."

They turned onto 84th Avenue, and before long, Erin saw the road that intersected her own very near her old home. "This is it!" she said excitedly. "Slow down, slow down!" Buzz complied, and they rounded a bend…

…And saw it. The house was gone. There was just…

Nothing.

Just a clearing in the trees.

Erin had had a funny feeling the whole time, but actually _seeing_ it… it was like taking a punch to the gut.

Everyone turned to her, eyes sympathetic.

She tried to swallow and couldn't manage it past the lump in her throat; took a deep, shaky breath, instead. "The… the driveway's… the driveway's still there," she managed to choke out. Overgrown with years and years of weeds, the driveway was still there. "Take us in?"

Buzz nodded wordlessly, eyeing the girl.

The van pulled into the long, weedy driveway and stopped at the end. Erin stepped out, slowly.

"That's where the patio was," she said, pointing straight ahead. "It was cement, I think. And _that's_ where the maple tree outside the window was – mama and daddy robin used to nest there. And alongside of the driveway there is where the gardens used to be." She shook her head as if to clear it. "There was only one real floor, with a basement beneath. They built an artificial hill around the basement – it was great for sledding in the wintertime." The artificial hill was gone now, crumbled when the house had been demolished – or whatever had happened to it.

Then she spotted something, and joy stabbed through her heart.

Snowball bushes!

"They're still here!" she cried, running to the brush just outside the woods. "The snowball bushes! We planted them when I was nine or so – their descendants survived here for a thousand years!"

"Wow! That's amazing!" Booster grinned.

"Sure is!" Erin grinned back, her vision starting to blur. "Oh great – I'm gonna cry."

Booster, instantly sympathetic as ever, grabbed her up in a big hug. "Aww, you'll be okay, Erin! After all, you've got us as family!"

Erin laughed past her tears. "That's not it, Booster, and would you – _ack!_ – let me down before you crush me?"

"Oh. Heh." The Jo-Adian gently lowered Erin to the ground. "Sorry."

"S'okay." Chewing the inside of her cheek, she wandered forward a few paces, thinking. "The city archives," she said slowly, then turned back to the team. "Guys, that's where we should look – the city archives!"

Buzz swung his keychain once around his finger. "The archives it is, then. C'mon, team – back in the van."

Mira groaned, not looking forward to another squished ride, however brief.

* * *

_Paw Paw City Archives; 11:10am CCT_

A young woman – no older and a bit smaller than Mira – stood behind the counter. She had long, soft brown hair and amber brown eyes; and a pin with the name _Alice_ was attached to her ivory blouse. "Good morning!" she smiled at the group. "May I help you?"

Erin took the initiative and walked up to the counter. "Yes. I was wondering about an old home – it was demolished, I think – on 84th Avenue?"

"Mm," Alice nodded knowingly. "A lot of old houses on that road have been demolished in the past two centuries. Do you know the address, or who used to live there?"

That was like asking a fish if he knew how to swim. "94630," Erin replied promptly. "The Frame family."

Alice stopped short. "The old Frame Place?"

There was no mistaking the capital _P_ in _Place_. "You know it?" Erin asked surprised.

"_Know_ it??" Alice laughed. "I'm a Frame on my mom's side!" Erin shared surprised looks with the team, and Alice saw it. "Why? Are _you_ a Frame, too?"

Erin looked to Buzz as if wordlessly requesting permission. He just shook his head and said, "It's your call."

Erin turned back to Alice and extended her hand. "I'm Erin Frame."

Alice took the proffered hand and shook it, her smile genuine and friendly. "Alice Donovan. So, you're named after the girl that disappeared?"

Wow. Her disappearance apparently made _quite_ the family history. Erin said slowly, "I _am_ the girl that disappeared."

Alice's face froze. "Excuse me?"

Erin nodded. "It's true." She gestured behind her at Buzz. "Captain Lightyear can back me up on my story."

Alice looked past the girl at the Ranger. "Captain Lightyear?"

"At your service, ma'am," he nodded.

Alice looked back and forth between Buzz and Erin, finally saying, "I think I'd like to know what's going on. Are you serious?"

"One hundred percent," Erin said firmly.

"If you want to know the story," Mira interjected, "it could take some time. Would you like to go out to lunch? We could tell you the whole story."

Uncertain but curious, Alice nodded. "Sure. Just a sec and let me get Rob to fill in for me." She disappeared into another room, and reappeared a minute later. "Okay – let's go."

* * *

_Burger King; 12pm, CCT_

It was nice to discover that the restaurant was still in operation.

Four Grilled Cheese Specials, three Whopper Burgers, seven Jumbo Fries, eight Jumbo Pepsis, and two cans of oil later – don't forget that _Booster_ was there, too – Alice knew the whole story. "Wow," she breathed, awed by it all.

After a few moments, Erin asked, "So what happened to my home?"

"Well, the clan added on to it over the years; in its heyday – about seven centuries ago – it was a huge mansion. I have some pictures I could email you," Alice offered.

Erin grinned at the thought of her old home being a mansion. "I'd like that."

"Yeah, it was a real beauty," Alice said dreamily. "Then the clan started drifting apart, mostly because of the Tangean War in the 2500s. By 2800, it was abandoned, and even though the clan regained its unity, it didn't regain its old home. In 2890, the building declared unsafe and had to be demolished. One of the families bought back the land from the city, but no one ever had the heart to rebuild."

Erin nodded slowly, digesting the information. 2890 – exactly nine centuries since her birth. The house would've been 894 years old then, because she had been nearly six when it was first built. "Do you know who owns the property?"

"I'd have to double-check back at the office."

"Mm," Erin nodded. "So, which part of the family are you from?"

"You mean, _which of your siblings do I hail from?_" Alice grinned. "Two, actually, 'cause my maternal grandpa is descended from Paul, and my maternal grandma is descended from Joyce."

Erin gasped. Her baby sister…

"Erin, you okay?" Alice asked, concerned. Buzz and Mira were also eyeing Erin, worried that this was just too much for her.

Erin shook herself. "Yeah… No, really, I'm all right."

"…Do you know what your family did during the Earth War?" Alice ventured.

Erin shook her head. "Nope. I get little pieces here and there, but not the full story."

Alice nodded. "There's actually a _trilogy_ that Paul and Joyce collaborated on that details their story. It's called _Beyond Home_ – it's an incredible story. I'll have to find that for you."

Eyes wide, Erin nodded. "Yeah, I'd really appreciate that, thanks."

"No problem!" Alice checked her watch. "Ah craters – I'd better get back to work, or Rob's gonna have my hide."

"Would it help if I talked to him?" Erin offered.

"Nah, s'okay. Rob's my cousin," Alice grinned. "Hey, around here we say that you can't throw a stone in any direction without hitting a Frame – we're all over the place."

Erin grinned back, handing Alice a slip of paper. "Here's my email address. Thanks for everything, Alice."

"And here's _my_ email. I'll send you a bunch of stuff about the family as soon as I can. Thank _you_ for solving a thousand-year-old mystery for me. And, hey, stop by my place sometime and we can talk some more. I'd _love_ to hear about the original family, and it's not everyday I get to meet my great-aunt a million times removed."

Erin laughed. "I think I'll take you up on that – _Niece_."

"Yeah, heard that one coming," Alice laughed. "Bye, Erin! Bye, Captain, Mira, Booster, XR! Thanks for lunch!"

"You're welcome," Buzz smiled.

"Bye!" the rookies chorused.

"Bye, Alice!" Erin called, then turned to the team. "And thank _you _guys for doing all this for me."

Buzz grinned and shrugged. "Hey, that's what friends do."

"Nuh-uh," Erin countered, shaking her head. "I think you went above and _beyond_ the call of duty." Then she threw her arms around Buzz and hugged him tightly.

He laughed and hugged her back. "Beyond the call of duty for a big brother?"

She laughed, too, and pulled back slightly. "Now that you mention it… nope." She grinned.

"Hey, don't _we_ get hugs?" XR protested. "_We're_ the ones who got dragged around all morning!"

Erin laughed again and immediately wrapped XR up in a bear hug. "Well, thank you for putting up with it," she replied, and kissed him on his helmet. Then she turned to hug Booster and Mira. "Really – thanks for everything, guys. It means so much to me."

Booster was wiping moisture out of his eyes. "Aww, you're welcome, Erin!"

Mira just grinned and squeezed Erin's arm. "No problemo, amiga."

Erin grinned back, then snapped her fingers. "Aw shoot – I forgot to ask her about the stuff the family said they'd stash for me! Oh well, I guess I can email her about it and see what she knows."

"Yeah," Buzz agreed, wrapping his arm around Erin's shoulders and directing her out of the restaurant. "I think you've had enough for one day. Take things in moderation, y'know?"

"I guess."

XR checked his arm chrono and said, "Hey, it's still just midday – what say we get back to the capital and find a good movie theater? There's a new movie out called _Till I Wake_, and the trailer looks really good."

"_Till I Wake_?" Buzz echoed, arching an eyebrow. "What kind of title is that?"

"Oh, I've seen that trailer!" Mira nodded. "It's about this guy that has all this bad stuff happen to him throughout his life, and he has this imaginary world that he's had since he was a kid, in which a lot of good things happen. I saw some reviews, though, and it's supposed to be kinda sad."

"Really?" Erin asked, looking at her. "I'd like to see that – it sounds good."

Buzz shrugged. "Fine by me. How 'bout you, Booster?"

"Sure!" the farmboy grinned. "We haven't gone to the movies as a team in a while!"

"All right then!" Buzz opened the van and gestured inside. "All aboard for the Theater Express!"

The rookies and Erin grinned and saluted, "Yes, sir!"

* * *

That night, Erin flopped down onto her bed, holding Buzz's questionnaire and a pen.

_**What makes me happy?**_

_Being with my family and friends; the sense of accomplishment of having made something; making a difference._ She could have written paragraphs for that simple question, but she decided to stick with just a few answers.

_**What activities, possessions, daily actions – however trivial – delight me, make me feel energized and optimistic?**_

_Singing, getting email from friends, writing, my laptop, some of my clothes, my favorite books and movies, cooking dinner…_ She stopped, another answer occurring to her. It was a new concept to her, true, but she had the feeling that it was going to become more important to her in the days ahead. _…taking walks._

_**What actions make me feel as if I count in my own eyes?**_

_Cooking, writing, helping people…_ The sad thing was that, when it came right down to it, Erin didn't really have a lot of self-esteem. She had a lot of faults – laziness and bullheadedness among them – and she was well aware of the fact. The biggest problem was that _understanding_ all that only served to depress her, make her feel helpless to change.

"_I have a plan for you here, a future. It will not be easy, Dearest, but there is always difficulty in following My will… __The question is: will __**you**__ be closer to __**Me**__, Erin. It is __**your**__ choice."_

"_I want to be."_

"_Then do so. I am always waiting for you, Erin – even when you think I am far away, I am always here."_

Her face hardening with resolve, she skipped over the other questions for the time being, flipped the sheet over and wrote on the back.

_God has a purpose for me here, big enough to pull me into a time that's a whole millennium after my birth. I've got a job to do, and I doubt it's anything that comes as easily to me as writing._

_I'll rely on God, and I'll do whatever it takes – whatever "it" is._

She raised her head just enough to look out her window at the glittering skyline.

_I have my orders now. If I wasn't sure before, I am now. It's not just me wanting to do it – I feel like I'm being pulled in that direction. Maybe it should've been obvious from the start – I don't know._

The next morning, she handed Buzz the sheet and flipped it over so he could read her jotting on the back. He skimmed over it and looked up from the sheet, blue eyes solemn. "You're _absolutely_ sure about this?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded seriously. "I'm going to be a Ranger."

* * *

_I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly_

_I'll do what it takes, till I touch the sky_

_And I'll_

_Make a wish, take a chance, make a change_

_And breakaway_

~*~

_Out of the darkness and into the sun_

_But I won't forget all the ones that I love_

_I'll_

_Take a risk, take a chance, make a change_

_And breakaway_

- "Breakaway," Kelly Clarkson

**Author's Note:**

I finally used the title song! Yay! …Honestly, I love "Breakaway," and it's so incredibly perfect for Erin.

I might actually take the story idea for the movie and turn it into a novel – what do you think? I think it sounds like it could be really good.

I'm glad I extended the clothes-shopping scene, 'cause that was really fun. Can't you just see XR in your head? I sure can. =)

Those questions are not originally my own – are you kidding me? I'm not _that_ good! Lol. Nope – they're from a _Star Wars_ fanfic: a question sheet given to Anakin Skywalker in an AU of RotS, believe it or not.

I love Cosmo's broken English.

And I actually used the "return-to-Michigan" bit from the original Chapter 6 in the new Chapter 6! That's cool! It was actually that part that held up the rewriting on this one – specifically, the scenes with Alice. In the end, I kinda forgot what all I was going to do with those scenes and ended up just doing a better version of the original. Which is okay, 'cause like Buzz said, "Take things in moderation." We'll find out more about Erin's family _and_ her stuff later.

**HERE I GO WITH MY PLEA FOR REVIEWS. I'M NOT SURE ANYONE BUT KJ LISTENS TO ME ANYMORE, BUT I BEG ANYWAY. PLEASE, ****PLEASE****, **_**PLEASE!!!**_


	8. Chapter 7: Breathless Daze

**==Chapter VII==**

**Breathless Daze**

_Wanna feel the warm breeze_

_Sleep under a palm tree_

_Feel the rush of the ocean_

—"Breakaway," Kelly Clarkson

_Cosmo's; (Saturday) 4/14/09_

The next day saw Team Lightyear and Erin eating lunch at Cosmo's once more. Midway into the meal, Buzz announced, "Monday's my day to check up on Dr. Furbanna on Karn," he announced. "I was thinking that maybe you guys could take _42 _out on patrol, and I'll take Erin with me."

Erin's head snapped up, brown eyes sparkling. "Buzz, do you mean it?" Of course, she knew what Karn was like, but she'd also never been to another planet before, and she wasn't going to be picky.

"Sure," he smiled. "As long as you stick close to me, you should be all right."

"Buzz, if I can interject here, yeah," said XR, "something bad _always_ happens when we go to Karn."

"I'm sure things will be fine this time," Buzz said confidently. "Mira, you think you can handle Booster and XR for a day?"

"Sure thing," Mira shrugged.

"Whaddaya mean, _handle_?" XR demanded indignantly.

Booster nervously shoved XR's helmet down into his body. "We'll be good for Mira, Buzz."

Erin bit back a laugh. If she hadn't seen the movie, she might have commented that how Booster and XR ever got to be Space Rangers was beyond her.

* * *

_Karn System; (Monday) 4/16/09_

They used a generic SC shuttle for their trip to Karn, but it wasn't the ship itself that captivated Erin—it was the swirling blue-white streaks of hyperspace. "Reversion to realspace… _now_," Buzz announced, pushing a lever forward.

The streaks collapsed to starlines, which collapsed to stars. Before them hung a dark green planet, dark because they were facing its nightside—but the nightside alone, briefly eclipsing the system's sun from their point of view, was spectacular. "That's beautiful," Erin breathed. "I've never been to a different planet before, don't forget."

"That's right," Buzz mused, rubbing his chin. "Well, welcome to Karn. Does it feature in that… _series_?"

"A couple of times," Erin replied, privately amused at the almost-embarrassed emphasis he put on the word _series_. "I haven't watched the episodes in a while, but I remember well enough. I don't think I'll watch the series again, though, until I'm sure all the events there have happened here. I mean, I don't want to be tempted to tell you something that could mess up the whole time-space continuum."

Buzz glanced sidelong at her. "Not that I'm sure I understand all that time-space stuff, but it sounds good to me."

Erin laughed.

"So," he continued, "you know who Dr. Furbanna is?"

"Mm-hmm," she nodded. "Karn's only sentient inhabitant and only permanent researcher." She kept the rest of her knowledge and personal opinions to herself.

"That's right. Ever since the time we lost radio contact with her, Star Command has scheduled a quarterly check-up on her."

Erin nodded and settled back into her seat, studying the planet as Buzz prepared to enter into orbit. Karn was _very_ green—almost insanely green, really—so much greener than Earth (no, Capital Planet—she _had_ to remember that) that she could see very little blue, though she supposed that oceans had to exist to support so much vegetation.

She couldn't help but wonder what Ozma Furbanna was really like. Back in her own time, there were fans who liked her and fans who despised her. Erin had always tended toward the latter group, not out of any spite but simply because the character had driven her up the wall. She didn't like Ozma's fanatical environmentalism, apparent selfishness, and cold treatment of Buzz. Still, Erin wanted to be fair, so she tried to purge her mind of previous impressions.

It didn't help her fairness any that the first thing she heard coming out of Ozma's mouth was a rebuke to Buzz for landing the shuttle too close to a bird's nest. _Would you rather we land it on your roof?_ Erin thought before she could stop herself.

"Sorry," Buzz grinned sheepishly. "Dr. Furbanna, I'd like you to meet my newly adopted sister, Erin Frame. Erin, this is Dr. Ozma Furbanna."

"Nice to meet you," Erin greeted. Making an effort to be friendly, she smiled and offered her hand.

After a moment's hesitation, the older woman took the hand and shook it. "Same here."

* * *

Okay, so their relationship didn't get off to a good start.

It didn't get much better.

Being Buzz's adopted sister, Erin felt oddly protective and even possessive of him. Her clannish, "big sister" reflexes were kicking in, focusing on one of only two people she could claim as family anymore, Mira being the other. And from where Erin was standing, it looked like Ozma bossed Buzz around a lot and maybe even enjoyed it. So… oh no, Heaven _forbid_ that _anyone_ should boss around Big Brother but Little Sister!

Ozma, on the other hand, was justifiably annoyed at the idea of a teenager on Karn, for however brief a visit. Karn just wasn't for teenagers—especially this one, who acted like a real hygiene nut. Plus, Ozma sensed the veiled, mild hostility in the younger woman, which irritated her even more. What _had_ her boyfriend been thinking when he'd brought her here, anyway?

As he inspected the work site, Buzz remained blissfully oblivious to the bad vibes channeling between the two women, feeling only the awkward atmosphere and having no idea of its cause.

All in all, not the best day ever.

But things brightened a bit when late afternoon rolled around, with one killer of a vegetable pot pie. Erin had to admit grudgingly to herself that anyone who could cook like _that_ couldn't be all bad, so she sincerely complimented her hostess on the meal. That thawed Ozma just a touch, and Erin counted it a victory.

When the siblings finally left, the women were at least able to exchange a civil goodbye. The moment was ruined for Erin, though, as she witnessed Buzz and Ozma kiss. She surreptitiously raised her hand to her mouth as she tasted bile, and climbed into the shuttle a few seconds later. Yep, she had always hated the Buzz/Ozma pairing—always had, always would. _How could that work, anyway_—

"Strapped in?" came Buzz's voice.

Erin pulled her belt down to buckle. "Am now."

Buzz ran the preflight check sequence and settled into his chair. "So'j'you have fun?"

"_Fun_?" Erin gasped in mock-astonishment. "I thought you couldn't have fun doing your job."

"When did I ever say that?" Buzz protested.

"You didn't," Erin grinned, settling into her seat. "Just ribbin' ya."

Buzz rolled his eyes and muttered, "Juvenile."

"You bet." As they lifted off, she admitted, "It was okay. Different." She smiled to herself. "Awesomesauce to be on a new planet."

"_Awesomesauce_?" Buzz echoed.

"'Net-speak."

"Ah."

Erin let out a quiet laugh, and Buzz shook his head, smiling.

* * *

In just a couple of weeks, Erin would begin training with Buzz. Already, aside from teaching her how to drive, he taught her how to play basketball better, and he'd promised to help her out with other sports.

And Captain Lightyear was not the only person teaching Erin things. Eleven days from the visit to Karn, some kind of dinner party for the Galactic Senate was to be held on Capital Moon Orbital Station. (_They could have actually _given_ the Moon a _real_ name,_ Erin thought, _but _oh nooo_, they _had_ to call it the same stupid thing they called Earth_.)

Team Lightyear and four other teams were scheduled for guard duty that night, so Buzz ensured that "Little Sis" could attend. Consequently, Mira found herself in a new position: that of a dance instructor. Early in their preparations, they'd gone out to buy a deep green dress that would perfectly complement Erin's dark eyes and hair. Erin had never been to any events outside of family gatherings, bridal parties, and weddings—and she was nearly bouncing off the walls with excitement.

She needed that energy when Team Lightyear was engaged in an evening of volleyball with the other Rangers. It was something of a tradition at Star Command—game night every Thursday. Mira had suggested that they bring Erin along this Thursday, and fifteen minutes into the game, the team was glad that they had. Erin was no sports girl—nowhere remotely close—but she'd played volleyball often with her church youth group back home. And while she couldn't yet make a basket any further than ten feet or so away from the hoop, she served a mean volleyball.

Her serves had already scored two points for her team, and she was winding up for another serve when she heard someone bellow, "HEY, ERIN!"

"_Rocket_!" she heard Mira shout angrily.

Rather than lose her focus, though, Erin merely rolled her eyes and served, very familiar with the yell-when-the-enemy's-about-to-serve tactic. A minute later, she screamed excitedly when the enemy team dropped the ball, scoring her team another point.

"Hey, Lightyear, your little sis there shouldn't be legal!" she heard Rocket Crocket shout. "She's too doggone good!"

"Nya-nya-nya-nya-nya-nya!" Erin chanted tauntingly back at him.

"Ooo, she's nasty, too!" Rocket added.

"Ahh, hush up and play!" Erin retorted.

Buzz's irritated gaze flicked from Rocket to Erin to Rocket to Erin. "Excuse me! Are we going to get on with this game, or are you two gonna keep jabbering?"

Erin turned to face the enemy team and held up the ball. "Answer: _10-4_!" The ball sailed over the net, and Rocket managed to punch it back over. Booster and XR, positioned close to each other, both went for the ball and ended up crashing, the ball plopping both Rangers on the head before touching the floor. "Ahh, come on_,_ you guys!" Erin complained. "We were having such a good streak!"

"Nya-nya-nya-nya-nya-nya!" a familiar voice chanted.

"Curse you, Rocket Crockeeeeeet!" she retorted in her best Zurg imitation, before realizing that it might not have been the best thing to say.

Everyone stopped and stared at her.

She winced and shrank back. "What?" she asked innocently.

* * *

_Hi, Hayden!_

_How are things over on your end? Where I am, it's pretty busy. I call it "breathless daze."_

_It's hot all of a sudden, and in late April, that's definitely _not_ a welcome change. We had temperatures in the 90s just the other day. Yuck._

_I'm starting to get the hang of basketball, so that's pretty cool. I've also started playing 0-G dodge-ball, which excites and scares me at the same time. Dodging those balls in a gravity-less room ain't fun._

_I'm also learning to dance, which is really cool._

…_Oh craters, this email looks _so_ awful. It's your own fault for wondering what I've been up to. I'm gonna go make dinner now._

_God bless!_

_~Mara Jade, Emperor's Hand-turned-Jedi-Knight =)_

* * *

_Hi, Mara Jade, Emperor's Hand-turned-Jedi-Knight._

_Nice to hear from you. Yeah, things are kinda busy on my end, too. ("Breathless daze"... angel _and _romantic?)_

_Ick, hot in late April is never fun. Oh, and 0-G dodge-ball is always fun—you just gotta get used to it. And I'm glad you're learning to dance: that's something girls should know, right?_

_Hey, your email didn't look awful, honest! And whaddaya mean, it's my own fault? Go make dinner, then, and see if I care!_

_;D_

_See ya,_

_Hayden_

* * *

_Mira's apartment; (Friday) 4/20/09_

"Step to the right! No, _your_ right! Okay, now twirl… Curtsy… Done."

Erin let out a relieved sigh. "Mira, do you really think they'll be doing the Teradonian Waltz at the party?"

"Probably," Mira replied, stopping the CD as the next music track was beginning. "It's a pretty popular dance."

"Shoot," Erin muttered. "Why does it have to be so doggone hard?"

Mira brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "It's just hard because you're not used to dancing. When you're more used to it, it'll be easy, trust me," Mira assured her.

"Hey, you're the teacher."

"Yep! Sooo, let me think… what do we do now…"

"Any romantic dances you could teach me?" Erin asked abruptly.

"Got a partner in mind?" Mira teased.

"Don't be cruel," Erin shot back. "Never hurts to be prepared."

Mira shrugged. "I guess we can do that." She flipped through a synth leather case of CDs. "I'm sure I've got something in here—ah-hah! Here it is!" Triumphant, she held up the tiny disc before inserting it into the player. "All right, I'll be the man. So I'm going to hold you… like _this_… and you hold me… like… _this_… Good! Now for this dance, it's much easier—you basically just follow your partner's lead, okay?"

"'Kay." Mira activated the music and resumed her position with Erin, who started when she recognized the tune. "That's 'Edelweiss' from _The Sound of Music_!"

"Mm-hmm," Mira grinned. "Sure is."

Mira was right: this dance _was_ much easier. It felt fluid and natural, and Erin was unconsciously performing better with music she knew and loved. When the tune faded away, she sighed disappointedly. "That was _so_ pretty. Are there more tracks like that, 'cause I mean… well, I think if I can do well with the more romantic dances, I'll do better with the others."

Mira smirked thoughtfully. "Sure. Let's just rest a minute, though—I'm tired." To prove her point, she flopped down onto the couch.

Erin grinned and flopped down beside her. "Me, too."

They sat in companionable silence for a minute before Mira, staring at the TV, mused, "Wonder if anything's on tonight."

"Prob'ly not," Erin drawled. Mira glanced at her, and she grinned sheepishly. "Quote—you probably wouldn't know it."

Mira arched an eyebrow but otherwise didn't pursue the issue. Finally, she said, "Maybe we should just call it a night and watch a movie. I don't know about you, but I've been working all day and I'm pooped."

"Fine by me," Erin shrugged. "You still have six more days to teach me, anyway."

"Oh joy," Mira groaned, eliciting a laugh from the younger girl. "Sooo, whaddaya wanna see?"

"Well, lessee." Erin propped her elbow on the couch arm and her chin in her palm. "We were going through the Narnia movies, and the last one we saw was _The Magician's Nephew_. We still need to do _The Last Battle_."

"Mm, yeah, that's right. Okay, I can go with that."

As Mira bent down to insert the DVD, Erin said, "Wait a sec. Just how depressing is this movie?"

Mira laughed. "Don't worry—the end more than makes up for it."

"Gonna hold you to that!" Erin warned her, less than half-serious.

"Be my guest," Mira retorted confidently. "You wanna make popcorn?"

"Sure!" Erin jumped up and bounded into the kitchen. "Oughta be… five minutes."

"Gonna hold you to that!" Mira called after her.

"Ha-ha," came the sarcastic response. Erin grinned, though. Living with Mira was like having a big sister—a totally new experience for a firstborn.

As she fixed the popcorn, her mind inadvertently drifted to the dinner coming up. She could never have foreseen the impact it would have on her life.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Oh, at last! Another chapter finally rewritten! As you'll notice, I left this chapter mostly alone in the way of rewriting—but it still needed a lot of polishing. It was mostly that reason that held me back from doing it while I flung myself into Star Wars fanfics.

If you want to review, that'd be terrific—if you don't, I understand. This wasn't the greatest chapter ever. Maybe I can get the next one done before my birthday. That'd be cool. Yes, it'll be the dinner party, but it'll be the dinner party as you've never seen it before. *grins*

You know, as I go through this… well, the redone chapters _started_ out more mature in tone, and somewhere along the way, they've gotten lighter… And I'm not sure I like it. Hopefully, the next chapter will more than make up for it. After that, maybe I can combine some chapters and get to the Academy sooner. Yeah, we're going to see it (sort of) this time around—what we'll really be seeing are some great new characters! I can't wait!


	9. Chapter 8: It Started out as a Feeling

**Author's Note:**

FINALLY! I finally got this chapter rewritten! W0000t~! Not only that, but it's my longest chapter EVER of ANY fic! Nearly 7,000 words! *does little dance*

**==Chapter VIII==**

**It Started out as a Feeling**

"_The sin which is not too great to be forsaken, is not too great to be forgiven."_

—Thomas Horton

_Capital Moon Orbital Station; (Friday) 4/27/09_

The Observatory Conference Room on the Capital Moon Orbital Station was decked out to the max for the Senatorial dinner. The huge room seemed to have exploded with exotic flowers, the likes of which Erin had never seen before. Several buffet tables were loaded to the point of collapsing—much to Booster's delight—and the band played classical music up on the stage.

The whole thing was a sight Erin had only ever seen in movies. She loved it.

But far more breathtaking was the Moon, filling much of the viewports. She hung in the black depths of space as a silent witness to her motherworld's history. Kingdoms had come and gone on Earth, islands had been formed and destroyed, lands had changed, and still the Moon remained much the same. The United Sates had sent out her sons to touch the lonely terrain, and though no man or nation could ever claim something so untamable as the Moon, America's touch remained there as a first love.

Then the Milky Way War had swept across the galaxy, and the USA had built a military base on the Moon, which was abandoned soon after the war. Even now, more than a thousand years since Erin's birth, the Moon remained so largely untouched, the natives of her planet seeming to silently agree that to build upon her surface unnecessarily would be treading on holy ground.

Staring out the viewport now, Erin could understand why. There was something very ancient and awe-inspiring about that sight. Finally tearing herself from the fantastic view, she turned to study the people gathered. Star Command was full of different races, but the guests tonight far exceeded that. The variety of shapes, sizes, and colors was amazing and disorienting.

She smirked to see Booster at one of the buffet tables, and XR hitting on a Senator's aide. Buzz and Mira were dutifully patrolling the room with the other four Ranger teams—twenty Rangers in all. Sighing for the sake of it, she meandered her way back to her brother (how easily she had fallen into the habit of regarding him as such!).

She had just reached him when a dual-toned voice rang out, freezing nearly everyone in their tracks. "Good evening, everyone!"

Twenty Rangers are no deterrent for a certain Evil Emperor when he _really_ wants something. Tonight was no exception.

The only people in the room that didn't freeze were the band, which played on, oblivious to the arrival of the galaxy's most feared and hated man. "_Zurg!_" Buzz gasped, bringing his wrist-laser to bear, the other Rangers following suit.

Erin's stomach suddenly churned, and she had the nagging feeling that it wasn't because of Zurg's appearance. "Buzz…" she murmured.

"Oh, _please_, Lightyear—need we be so hostile?" said Zurg, waving a dismissive hand at his archenemy. "We're just here for the party?"

"_We_?" Mira groaned.

A tall, sturdy silhouette strode up to Zurg's side, the silhouette resolving itself in the form of a well-known criminal. Warp Darkmatter stood at parade attention, dressed in a stylish black tux in place of his spacesuit.

Erin's stomach tightened apprehensively.

"Hey, Lightyear!" the man called. "What's up?"

"Two gatecrashers who happen to be on the top of Star Command's Most Wanted!" Buzz retorted.

"Re-lax!" Zurg soothed. "We'll hang out for a while and be back home before the party's even over—so _you're_ happy, _we're_ happy, _everybody's_ happy!" He flung his arms out, grinning widely. The Rangers didn't stand down as Zurg glided over to the buffet table where Booster stood, gaping. "Ooo! Teriyaki chicken! My favorite!" He proceeded to load up a large plastic plate at a speed that impressed even the Jo-Adian Ranger.

The other Rangers—Buzz especially—stared in shock.

Erin was seized with the sudden urge to giggle.

The guests seemed to decide that everything was all right—or at least, _safe_—so they all returned to their business. Mira began to try to shake Buzz out of his daze. "Hey, Buzz, it's okay," she said gently.

Warp walked over to them, looking shot and galaxy-weary despite his debonair appearance. "Hey," he said tiredly in Buzz's direction.

"Hey," Buzz echoed, in the same tone.

"Kid sister?" Jerk of the head in Erin's direction.

Toneless reply. "Yup."

"Hey, _kid sister_ has a name, and _kid sister_ ain't so much of a 'kid,' anymore," Erin interjected pointedly.

Warp turned to Erin, his gaze uncomfortably intense. "Believe me, sweetheart, _nobody_ could mistake you for a kid right now." His husky voice held a note of… _something_… in it… He gave her an innocent, lopsided grin.

She froze. Oh, mother of Venus. His smile. His _voice_.

Too many emotions, too many responses whirled within her for her to handle. She settled for evenly returning, "And no one should mistake you for anything but the _creep_ you are, _Hayden_."

His already pale blue skin greyed.

Abruptly alert, Buzz glanced suspiciously between former partner and adopted sister. "_Hadyen_?"

Erin's brown eyes never left Warp's blue ones, as she replied, "_Nada importante, mi hermano_." Unable to endure the standoff any longer, she spun on her heel and strode for the double doors, the wide skirt of her dress not impeding her movement in the slightest.

"Er-Erin?" she heard Warp's voice call behind her. She ignored it.

The corridor beyond was dimly lit and empty. She turned right and broke into a run.

_Warp, Hayden, Warp, Hayden, Warp, Hayden, _liar_, no, no, no, no…_

She finally halted at an enormous viewport and sagged against the cold transparisteel. As she stared at the pockmarked Moon below and the infinite night sky above, a plea flew heavenward. _God, why Warp?_

Briefly, her eyes closed.

_God, why…_

* * *

Buzz turned to Warp, blue eyes dark and narrow. "Warp, what was _that_ all about?"

"A mistake," Warp replied tersely, pushing past the captain. "I'll find her."

"Warp—"

Warp spun around to face Buzz, his own blue eyes a roiling storm. "I'll _fix_ it. Promise." For once in his life, he meant it, too.

And Buzz must have seen it. He sighed and shook his head. "Go."

Warp nodded sharply and turned, threading his way through the crowd. He heard the princess say, "Shouldn't we…"

"Ehhh, nooo," Buzz said slowly. "Whatever's going on, they have to work it out for themselves." Just on the edge of hearing, Warp caught Buzz adding, "Though my heart is going to be in my throat the whole time…"

Warp almost smirked at that. Almost.

It took a while, but he eventually found her leaning against a viewport, framed by the Moon and the stars. She was hugging herself and staring at her feet, looking small, lonely, and vulnerable.

For the first time in a long time, Warp felt guilty.

"I… guess there were better ways I could have broken it to you," he said quietly, stopping a few feet from her.

She didn't look up. "Probably. End result would be the same, though."

"What end result is that?"

"I would still hate you." Her voice was thick.

"You don't mean that."

"Yes, I do." Her head snapped up, brown eyes blazing. "You _lied_ to me—you _played_ with my _heart_. You _knew_ you were."

Warp took a step closer. "That wasn't what I wanted."

"No?" Bitterness replaced the threat of tears. "You _didn't_ want a new toy to play with?"

Warp's own eyes blazed in time with the anger that sprang up inside. "Don't you _ever_ say that _again_," he hissed. "Don't you even _think_ it."

She shrank back further against the transparisteel, her eyes wide, fear shining past the resentment. "Hurts to be compared to other criminals, does it?" she whispered.

Warp wanted very much to slap her. With effort, he kept his real hand clenched into a fist at his side. "You should try it sometime, see how you like it."

"No thanks." She was still scared.

Warp exhaled explosively and raked his claw through his blue-black hair. "Look, Erin, I'm not gonna hurt you. I won't."

A visible shudder ran through her slender body, and she ran her hands up and down her bare arms to warm them. "I don't believe you."

Warp's eyes narrowed. "If I'd wanted to hurt you, I would've _done_ it already."

"Then why—"

"It was stupid," he said in a rush.

"Uh-huh."

He sighed. "I was… curious."

She stared at him incredulously. "…_Curious_?"

"Yes!" Frustrated, Warp growled and turned half away. "This kid, this eighteen-year-old girl from the past shows up, gets hurt, and suddenly becomes important to Star Command's top Rangers. More than that, _Buzz Lightyear_ willingly _adopts_ the kid as his _sister_." He whirled back around to face Erin. "Do you have _any_ idea how _big_ that is? Any at all? Buzz _isn't_ the affectionate type—he never had any siblings, he doesn't even know how to properly handle girls! The man's practically a sociopath! We used to joke about how he'd never settle down with a family, just because he had no idea how to! And here _you_ waltz into his life and just—just steal his heart, and—and—and… that's _big_! Y'know?"

With his tirade winding down, his next words came out much more quietly. "I was curious."

* * *

Erin just stood there, gaping at the man, unsure of what to say or how to react. His chest heaved from more emotion than she figured he usually revealed, his eyes stared at the floor, and his real hand absently rubbed the back of his neck.

She _wanted_ to believe his explanation, because she still _wanted_ to like him, even though she still kind of hated him, but something about it felt off. Then it clicked. The park. How could he have known… "Were you stalking me?" she asked harshly.

His head jerked up. "What? No! I mean, I was in the area so that I could bump into you sometime, but I don't think that counts as—"

"Then how did you know I was going to the park?"

Comprehension dawned over his face. "That. Oh. Well, that, actually, was pure luck. I was just out for a walk, and that park…" His face became unreadable, and his voice flat. "Well, that's where my parents used to take me when I was a kid." Pause. "I wasn't lying when I told you that was my old neighborhood."

Erin nodded slowly, digesting that. After a few moments, she pushed herself up and away from the viewport. "I'd better get back," she said determinedly. "Buzz will worry."

She brushed past him and went a few paces before hearing her name called. She stopped without turning. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry."

She wondered if he realized just how much she wanted to keep on liking him. "Whatever," she said flippantly. As she walked away, she hoped it stung.

* * *

When she reached the observatory, Erin found Zurg dancing slowly and jerkily to Ravel's _Boléro_, blissfully unaware of the tittering laughs he was triggering from the guests. Eyes wide, she strode over to Mira and hissed in a whisper, "Is he _drunk_?"

"Kinda looks that way," Mira whispered back, her own cerulean eyes wide. "So what happened?"

"Beg pardon?"

"You. Warp. What?"

"Complicated. Later."

Mira sighed grumpily and motioned Buzz over. "So, Buzz, what are we gonna do?"

"I'm not sure," he said, his eyes wandering and then locking on to something. Erin turned to follow his gaze…

And quickly turned back.

"Aw, _man_," she heard Warp mutter behind her.

"What in the galaxy is he _doing_?" Buzz murmured.

Warp came into her line of vision, folding his mismatched arms over his broad chest. "You'd never believe it."

"Give us a little credit, Warp," Mira advised. "We deal with weird stuff all the time."

The man shook his head. "Still say you won't believe it."

Erin was significantly tempted to ask, but she was also in her _I'm-not-talking-to-this-person_ mode, so she said nothing. She didn't have to. Mira made a noise of frustration and exploded, "Aww, c'mon, what's it gonna take—my holding a blaster to your head?"

"Are good guys allowed to do that?" Warp asked in mock-astonishment.

"_Warp!_"

Warp threw up his hands in surrender. "All right, all right!" He sighed loudly. "It was _Mary Poppins_. _Mary Poppins_, caramel popcorn, Starbucks, and Bing Crosby albums."

In spite of herself, Erin nearly choked on her laughter. "_Mary Poppins_ and Bing Crosby? You're kidding!"

Buzz's eyes were wide, and Erin wondered what was going on in that brain of his. "I wish he was."

Warp looked galaxy-wearier than ever. "Yeah. 'Nother chemical imbalance—hate it when that happens."

Buzz nodded miserably.

Erin and Mira traded looks. "Wait a sec, wait a sec," said Mira. "Buzz, you're saying you've _seen_ Zurg like this before?"

"Erm, once. A few years back. Warp 'n' I—" he froze, collected himself, and continued—"Warp and I had gotten into the Zurg Tower to retrieve a piece of Star Command technology. It was the only time Zurg wasn't on the ball during an incident." Buzz turned a penetrating look towards his former partner. "Care to explain _why_, Warp?"

To his credit, a look of alarm passed so swiftly over the other man's aquiline features that Erin might have thought she'd imagined it—if Buzz's eyes hadn't narrowed in response. But it was only a moment, and then Warp's characteristic nonchalant mask was firmly in place. "_Why_ he got a chemical imbalance then? I don't know, Lightyear."

"That's a lie," Buzz said steadily.

Warp edged closer, his posture shifting from casual to combative in split-seconds. "Don't push it," he warned.

Buzz remained unperturbed. "Then I won't. Now. But rest assured, Warp, I _will_ find out, someday."

Warp sighed, his body relaxing. "I'd expect nothing less from you."

Across the room, Zurg dramatically pretended to conduct the band as they finished _Boléro_, garnering even more laughs from bystanders.

Warp took one glance over his shoulder and rolled his eyes. "Good _grief_, I'm not his _babysitter_."

Several giggles erupted from Erin before she could contain them. She gave her stern-faced brother a penitent smile. "Sorry, Buzz."

Warp had motioned a waiter over and was now taking a cocktail. "I don't get paid enough for this," he muttered into his glass, just before he drank.

"You have your own moon, asteroid, and customized yatch," Erin felt compelled to point out.

He shook his head as he downed the glass. "Hon, trust me—that's not enough to cover it."

Erin snorted and shook her head.

Warp held up his empty glass and eyed it speculatively. "I think," he mused, "that I'm going to need another."

Mira arched one elegant eyebrow. "Can't take it sober."

Warp's gaze remained on the glass. "…Nope."

Buzz cast one look at Zurg break-dancing to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and returned his attention to his small group. "Should I assume that any attempt to arrest the both of you would be rendered pointless?" he asked evenly.

"You could assume that," Warp returned in the same even tone, twirling the glass with his fingers.

"And, quite possibly, that my job itself has just been rendered pointless here, since nothing could happen that would be worse than Zurg's gate-crashing?"

"Quite probably."

"And, in that event, it would be safe to have some dinner and simply let it all play out?"

"I do believe it would be."

Buzz nodded sharply. "Right then." He spun on his heel to arrive at Booster's buffet table, Erin and Mira following and Warp close behind them.

The baffled Jo-Adian rookie stared at his captain. "Buzz, what's going _on_?"

"Don't look at me," Buzz told him tonelessly. "I just work here."

Erin giggled again, some part of her mind suggesting that perhaps she was a bit hysterical this evening, between Warp's revelation and Zurg's sudden lunacy.

XR wheeled over to the group, bearing a camcorder pointed in Zurg's direction. "Hey, guys!"

"_Camcorder_, XR?" Buzz asked.

"Hey, this'll be worth a _fortune_ when I go to the press," XR replied defensively.

"A fortune?" Warp echoed. "Can I have a copy?"

"Sure!" XR grinned maliciously. "For a small fee, of course."

"Of course," Warp repeated dryly.

"Miniscule, you understand."

"Oh, surely."

"Can't give these things away for free, you know."

"Oh, I agree completely. Moments like these are priceless."

Buzz shook his head—muttering something about robots and crooks—grabbed a plate, and distanced himself from the group, having the distinct look of a man who needs some air.

A couple of minutes later, four Space Rangers, one 21st-century civilian, and one Ranger-turned-criminal were sitting at a table where they had a good view of Zurg—who was now dancing wildly to the end of the Beethoven piece.

"Where're the other Rangers?" Booster wondered.

"I told them all to stay frosty but stand down," Buzz replied. "Be ready just in case Zurg tries something."

"Probably won't," Warp said around a bite of croissant.

"I know—just being careful."

"Yup." Warp turned to Erin. "Enjoying the party, Your Worshipfulness?"

Erin arched both eyebrows in a very aristocratic expression. "Your Worshipfulness?" she echoed.

"Uh-huh." Warp set his elbow on the table and propped his chin on his palm. "Erin was the goddess Ireland was named after. See, Buzz? I know some history."

"No comment," Buzz muttered just before he took a sip of sparkle juice.

"Well, bravo," said Erin, settling back into her seat. "I'm a goddess, hmm?"

"Looking like it from where _I'm_ sitting, Your Worship," Warp said easily.

Before Erin could comment further, Zurg began belting out his own lyrics to _The Blue Danube_. Warp gave an exasperated sigh and dropped his face into his real hand. Erin laughed. "I _have_ to get his autograph before he leaves," she decided.

Buzz glanced heavenward. "Erin, this is no time for fangirlism."

"This is a _perfect_ time for fangirlism!" she protested. "Fangirls back in my time would have _died_ for a chance like this!"

Mira looked up at the ceiling in thought. "Well, let's see. From what I can remember of the Zurg fangirls, there's EEZ, Cosmik Cataclysm, Blacksteel, MC… Did I miss anybody?"

"Saron," Erin finished.

"Oh yeah, that's right! Saron."

Erin adopted a pose identical to Warp's, her chin on her palm. "Pretty impressive, Mira, that you studied that and remembered it."

Mira giggled. "One: it was a fandom dedicated to _us_. How could I resist? Two: mostly because I remember thinking how weird it was that all these people were so nuts over Zurg."

Erin laughed, too. "At first, I didn't get it, either, but I came to understand their point of view."

Bemused, Warp glanced between them. "_What_ are you two _talking_ about?"

Mira laughed and waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about it, Warp—'s complicated."

Erin raised her glass of sparkle juice and looked over the rim at the man, two seats away. "_Very_ complicated."

"Well, well!" a deep voice boomed boisterously. "Getting cozy, are we?"

"Hi, Zurg," all six people at the table greeted in monotone.

"Isn't this party just the bubble in the bath?" Zurg said cheerily, taking the empty seat beside Booster and blissfully oblivious to XR's camcorder.

"Mm, great," Mira deadpanned.

Buzz just folded his arms on the table and dropped his face into them with a quiet groan.

Erin pulled a notebook and pen out of her purse and passed them over to Zurg. "Say, Mr. Evil Emperor, may I please have your autograph?"

"Why, it would be my evil pleasure!" Zurg signed the paper with an overdramatic flourish and returned the notebook and pen to Erin. Beautiful calligraphic writing said: _Hope your night is as deliciously evil as mine!—Evil Emperor Zurg_

Erin grinned and returned the items to her purse. "Thanks." Remembrance dawned on her, and she looked up to Mira. "Mira, what time is it?"

"Ahhh, it's… 6:58… oh my gosh, you'd better get going!"

"Yeah," Erin nodded, quickly standing and handing her purse and wrap to Mira. "Okay, I'll be back in a little bit, guys!"

"Where's she going?" Booster asked as Erin hurried off.

Mira smiled enigmatically. "You'll see in a minute."

* * *

The lights dimmed—effectively quieting conversation—and a spotlight flicked on over center-stage. Warp's jaw dropped as Erin stepped out from the curtains and entered that spotlight. The band struck up a relaxed beat, and the young woman opened her mouth.

She was _performing_.

**http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=UAu1pJlu3sI**

_Ever close your e-yes?_

_Ever stop and listen?_

_Ever feel ali-ive_

_And you're nothin' missin'?_

_You don't need a-a reason_

_Let the day go-o on and on_

Erin had let go of her American accent for an Irish inflection, and Warp abruptly had the feeling she was imitating another singer, possibly one from her own time.

_Let the rain fall do-wn_

_Everywhere around you_

_Give into it no-w_

_Let the day surround you_

_You don't need a-a reason_

_Let the rain go-o on and on_

_What a day! What a day to take to!_

_What a way! What a way to make it through!_

_What a day! What a day to take to_

_A wild child._

_Only take the ti-ime_

_From the helter-skelter_

_Every day you fi-ind_

_Everything's in kilter_

_You don't need a-a reason_

_Let the day go-o on and on_

_Every summer su-un_

_Every winter evening_

_Every spring to co-ome_

_Every autumn leaving_

_You don't need a-a reason_

_Let it all go-o on and on_

_What a day! What a day to take to!_

_What a way! What a way to make it through!_

_What a day! What a day to take to_

_A wild child._

Erin repeated the chorus once more before the song ended. As it closed, the audience gave an enthusiastic applause. Camcorder still in hand and filming, XR whistled appreciatively. "Talented little sister you have there, Lightyear," Zurg commented genially. "Wouldn't you say, Darkmatter?"

"Mm," was Warp's only response, focused as he was on the young woman on the stage.

As Erin began the next song, Warp noted that her pitch rose to what he figured was her normal singing pitch.

**http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=021sLSrNzHM**

_You'll remember me when the west wind moves_

_Upon the fields of barley_

_You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky_

_As we walk in fields of gold_

_So she took her love_

_For to gaze awhile_

_Upon the fields of barley_

_In his arms she fell as her hair came down_

_Among the fields of gold_

_Will you stay with me, will you be my love_

_Among the fields of barley?_

_We'll forget the sun in his jealous sky_

_As we lie in fields of gold_

Warp remembered old myths and fairy tales about sirens and other enchantresses singing and luring brave heroes to their doom. He'd never thought that those stories could actually be _realistic_.

_See the west wind move like a lover so_

_Upon the fields of barley_

_Feel her body rise when you kiss her mouth_

_Among the fields of gold_

_I never made promises lightly_

_And there have been some that I've broken_

_But I swear in the days still left_

_We'll walk in fields of gold_

_We will walk in fields of gold_

Erin's roving gaze came to rest on their table, and their eyes met, brown and blue. Something small but vitally important shifted in that moment, and Warp knew—just _knew_—instinctively that his world would never be the same again.

_Many years have passed since those summer days_

_Among the fields of barley_

_See the children run as the sun goes down_

_Among the fields of gold_

_You'll remember me when the west wind moves_

_Upon the fields of barley_

_You can tell the sun in his jealous sky_

_That we walked in fields of gold_

_That we walked in fields of gold_

_That we walked in fields of gold_

Erin finally looked away, leaving Warp strangely breathless. He barely heard the claps and whistles. She began to pace the stage slowly as an Irish whistle and harp began to play.

**http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=_45W-Lq7ftw**

_Are you going to Scarborough Fair?_

_Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme._

_Remember me to one who lives there,_

_He once was a true love of mine._

_Tell him to make me a cambric shirt,_

_Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme,_

_Without no seam nor needlework,_

_Then he'll be a true love of mine._

There was a beautiful instrumental interlude as Erin paced leisurely, her gaze seldom leaving the audience.

_Ask him to find me an acre of land,_

_Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme,_

_Between the salt water and the sea strand,_

_Then he'll be a true love of mine._

The music slowed and quieted, and Erin's voice softened, sorrowfully, as she glided to center-stage and stopped. Her gaze once more met Warp's.

_Are you going to Scarborough Fair?_

_Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme._

_Remember me to one who lives there,_

_He once was a true love of mine._

The applause was nearly wild this time, and the next song started before the audience quieted.

**http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=YaqQnhBtxaI**

_I-I-I-I hear your voice on the wind_

_And I-I-I-I hear you call out my name_

A drum began to softly beat in the background.

_Listen, my child, you say to me_

_I am the Voice of your history_

_Be not afraid, come follow me_

_Answer my call and I'll set… you… free!_

A violin began playing.

_I am the Voice in the wind and the pouring rain_

_I am the Voice of your hunger and pain_

_I am the Voice that always is calling you_

_I am the Voice, I will remain_

_I am the Voice in the fields when the Summer's gone_

_I dance on the leaves when the Autumn winds blow_

_Ne'er do I sleep throughout all the cold Winter long_

_I am the force that in Springtime will grow_

There was a brief interlude featuring the violinist, then all instruments but two Celtic drums—_bodhráns_, Warp's mind supplied—faded away. The drummers played strong beats for the next verse, and Erin's voice returned, deep, ringing, and powerful.

_I am the Voice of the Past that will always be_

_Filled with my sorrow and blood in my fields_

_I am the Voice of the Future_

_Bring me your peace…_

_Bring me your peace and my wounds_

_They will heal_

The other instruments returned in full force.

_I am the Voice in the wind and the pouring rain_

_I am the Voice of your hunger and pain_

_I am the Voice that always is calling you_

_I am the Voice, I will remain_

_I am the Voice of the Past that will always be_

_I am the Voice of your hunger and pain_

_I am the Voice of the Future_

_I am the Voice…_

The song crescendoed.

_I am the Voice…_

_I am the Voice…_

_I am the Voice…_

_I am the Voice~!_

Definitely wild applause this time. The band began a softer, deeper tune, and Warp finally recognized Erin's imitation as the Irish singer Enya.

**http:/www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=hhUhiDjID1I**

_May it be an Evening Star_

_Shines down upon you_

_May it be when Darkness falls_

_Your heart will be true_

_You walk a lonely Road_

_Oh, how far you are from Home!_

_Mornië utúlië_ [Darkness has come]

_Believe, and you will find your way_

_Mornië alantië_ [Darkness has fallen]

_A Promise lives within you now_

Erin's gaze returned to her table, searing with intensity, resting on Warp, Buzz, and Mira. In that moment, it seemed as if she was singing for them alone.

_May it be the Shadow's call_

_Will fly away_

_May it be your journey on_

_To light the Day_

_When the Night is overcome_

_You may rise to find the Sun_

_Mornië utúlië_ [Darkness has come]

_Believe, and you will find your way_

_Mornië alantië_ [Darkness has fallen]

_A Promise lives within you now_

_A Promise lives within you now_

This time, the applause was a complete standing ovation. Erin's brown eyes sparkled even as her cheeks flushed. She curtsied and disappeared behind the curtains as the applause continued. A minute later, she was back at their table.

Warp was ready for her, with her chair pulled out, and she sank into it with obvious relief. "Thanks, Warp," she breathed, and exhaled hard. "Thank God that's over," she murmured.

"You okay?" Booster worried.

"Just a case of stage fright," the girl replied, panting and placing her hand over her heart. "No biggie."

"Stage fright?" Buzz echoed. "Must've been good acting."

Erin nodded, her head tilted back and her eyes closed. "Heart's still pounding a mile a minute."

Buzz shook his head, grinning. "Well, you were _fantastic_."

"'Fantastic,' nothing!" Zurg scoffed. "That was stunning, flawless, magnificent!—how'd you like to come sing on Friday nights?"

Erin laughed and straightened in her seat. "No thanks." She noticed the slender goblet of wine at her place. "What's this?"

"I, uh, ordered it for you," Warp explained. "Thought you might be thirsty after that performance."

Erin smiled ruefully. "Warp, I'm underage."

…Oh yeah. _Sheesh_, did he ever feel like a moron. "Oh… right. Sorry about that."

She shook her head, smiling slightly. "It's okay. Someone else can have it. Thanks, though."

He shrugged it off. "Hey, it was a _thank you _for the performance." His voice quieted. "That really was great."

She looked briefly disconcerted. "Thank you."

He leaned back and studied her—really _studied_ her. Her rich brown curls cascaded around her sharply-defined face and down to her waist—a waist, he noted, that was not as painfully thin as the first time he'd met her. The makeup was minimal, and though she wasn't anywhere close to Mira's level of beauty, Erin Frame was decidedly attractive in her own way. There was something childish in her full lips but mature in her dark eyes—a girl who'd had to grow up abruptly. The forest green shimmersilk dress was designer work, form-fitting but with a neckline high enough to preserve her modesty well. Her jewelry consisted of a pair of rhinestone earrings, a necklace with a pendant in the form of a Star of David and an _icthus_ together, and a Celtic-looking ring.

"Don't look at me like that," she murmured.

Warp noted that the others were preoccupied with a classic Zurg "evil childhood memory" before replying. "Like what?"

"_That_. Stop it."

One corner of his mouth pulled back. "Why?"

"It makes me feel uncomfortable," she said bluntly.

That corner pulled back further. "Sorry, Your Worshipfulness."

* * *

The lights brightened marginally, and the band struck up a dance number that Erin didn't recognize. Mira glanced over her shoulder at the band, then turned to Erin with a grin. "Let's see if you get any offers now, after that performance," she whispered.

Erin grinned back. "I'm not holding my breath." Mira frowned suddenly at something behind Erin, who twisted in her seat to find Warp standing there and looking almost… _nervous_.

"May I, uh, have the pleasure of this next dance?"

Erin's mouth answered before her brain caught up with it. "You may." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her brother smack his forehead with his palm.

Warp bowed slightly and moved back towards his seat. Erin scooted closer to Mira so that only the older woman could hear her. "Did I just accept a dance with Mr. Darkmatter?"

Mira laughed quietly, recognizing the line. "I daresay you'll find him agreeable."

Erin managed to look properly horrified. "But that will be most inconvenient since I've sworn to loathe him for all eternity."

The girls glanced once at each other and broke down into giggles.

"Oh mother of Venus!" Erin gasped quietly before giggling again.

"Is this night weird or what?" Mira nodded.

"Oh boy." Erin looked down at the floor and exhaled, her mirth dissipating. "Mira, it's more than weird. Remember when I told you about Hayden Shaw?"

"Hayden Shaw…" It took Mira all of three seconds to process it, and her eyes went very round. "Sweet mother of _Venus_…"

"Yeah." Erin wrapped her arms around herself. "I told him I hated him for that."

Mira blinked. "Do you still?"

"I'm… not sure. I don't _want_ to," the younger woman admitted ruefully, "but at the same time, well… I'm sure you've figured out by now that I can hold grudges."

"I've noticed that, yeah," Mira said dryly.

"I'm… I'm _torn_, Mira," Erin blurted. "I _want_ to hate him, and at the same time, I… I want to _like_ him."

"Oh boy." Mira ran a hand through her red hair, glancing at the floor. "Erin, I… I honestly don't know _what _to say, other than _be __**careful**_."

Erin nodded slowly. "I plan on it."

* * *

When the next dance started up, Warp stood, and Erin quickly followed suit. Neither made a move to hold the other's hand as they silently moved out to the dance floor. He took her left hand in his claw and lightly placed his real hand on her waist. Her right hand rested on his shoulder.

At first, Erin felt more than a little awkward, but her far more experienced partner led her so smoothly that she was reminded of the phrase "tripping the light fantastic." She tried to clear her mind of cognitive thought and simply move with Warp to the music. It wasn't easy, and after two minutes, she felt she had to speak up or burst.

"I was a last-minute substitution," she murmured.

"Come again?"

"I was a last-minute substitution," she repeated. "For the performance."

"Really?" She quickly looked away from his appreciative smile. "Didn't sound like it."

"We practiced _over_ and _over_ from one to four o'clock," she said with a short laugh.

Warp nodded. "You were good. You should try out for Andromeda Records."

"Mira told me about them—I'd like that."

"And forget Star Command?" She looked up sharply to meet his suddenly expressionless gaze.

"Not in the slightest," she said firmly. "I said I was going to be a Space Ranger, and I'm sticking to it. Y'know, that conversation makes a whole lot more sense now."

A grimace passed swiftly over his aquiline features. "I'll bet." A beat. "I'm sorry. That was a dumb thing to say."

"It was," she returned a bit more harshly than she'd meant. Then she hung her head. "I'm sorry."

"We can kiss and call it even."

Not looking up, she choked out a strangled laugh. "Not funny, hotshot."

His husky voice was quiet this time. "Erin, really. I'm sorry."

They danced for another minute in silence before Erin murmured, "I forgive you."

* * *

Buzz Lightyear was about ready to commit suicide. Or homicide.

That latter option was looking more appealing with every childhood prank the Evil Emperor Zurg was relating to his unwilling listeners.

Buzz's adopted sister was still dancing with his former partner, and at the start of the last song, XR had handed Booster the camcorder and asked Mira for a dance. Buzz suspected that she'd agreed just to get away from their insane archenemy, but XR had lit up like Capitol Square on New Year's Eve.

And now Mira seemed to be enjoying herself.

Buzz's chest tightened, and he had no idea why. He watched as Mira and XR returned to their table, Mira apparently needing a drink. XR kept up a constant stream of chatter, so fast that Buzz could hardly make out what he was saying—something about the dance, he thought. Finally, Mira held up a hand as she downed a glass of water, and the little 'bot fell obligingly silent.

_Thank goodness,_ Buzz thought, and stood. "Uhh, Ranger Nova? May I have this next dance?"

Booster froze, and XR's jaw dropped to his chassis. Mira herself seemed a little taken aback. "I, uh, I-I, uh, sh-sure! Yeah, that'd be great!"

Buzz tamped down the odd sensation of irritation (_and hurt_) and smiled, proffering his copilot his arm. "Shall we?"

Mira blinked and linked her arm in his, allowing him to guide her back to the dance floor. He felt the other two Rangers' eyes glued to them the whole time, and smirked a little. Hey, he never said he _couldn't_ be a gentleman.

They assumed a classic waltz position and began to sway gently to the music.

_Someday_

_When I'm awfully low_

_When the world is cold_

_I will feel a glow_

_Just thinking of you_

_And the way you look_

_Tonight_

* * *

"Hey, lookit," Warp whispered, jerking his head to the left.

Erin followed his line of sight and almost gaped at the sight of her brother and her roommate _dancing together_. Then her face lit up in a wide grin. "Oh, _wow_," she breathed.

"We could be in-laws before the night is over," Warp murmured.

Erin laughed, recognizing the line from an old movie classic. "Fantastic."

* * *

Mira was so _close_. Buzz's heart was beating quicker, and he felt light-headed. He now understood what drowning felt like.

In an effort to relax, he opened his mouth to speak… but it wasn't conversation that came out.

_Yes, you're lovely_

_With your smile so warm_

_And your cheeks so soft_

_There is nothing for me_

_But to love you_

_Just the way you look_

_Tonight_

* * *

Mira stared incredulously at her captain. "B-Buzz?"

He could _sing?_

More than that, he was singing to _her?_

_He_, much calmer already, just smiled warmly and leaned forward, lightly resting his chin on her shoulder and continuing to murmur the song.

_With each word_

_Your tenderness grows_

_Tearing my fears apart_

_And that laugh_

_That wrinkles your nose_

_Touches my foolish heart_

* * *

Mira exhaled slowly, almost melting into his hold. She couldn't remember _when_ she'd felt so completely relaxed, so completely _content_.

He was still singing.

_Yes, you're lovely_

_Never, ever change_

_Keep that breathless charm_

_Won't you please arrange it?_

_'Cause I love you_

_Just the way you look_

_Tonight_

* * *

"I think this is called 'Convenient Slow Dance,'" Erin remarked quietly.

After a moment, Warp answered. "For who: them or us?"

"Quit flirting or you can find yourself another dance partner!" she hissed in a whisper.

"Okay, okay!"

She laughed silently, too amused to be truly annoyed.

_With each word_

_Your tenderness grows_

_Tearing my fears apart_

_And that laugh_

_That wrinkles your nose_

_Touches my foolish heart_

* * *

"Like this song, do you?" Mira murmured.

_Yes, you're lovely_

_Never, ever change_

Buzz wasn't sure how to answer. In an old black-and-white film, he might have said something like, "Not half as much as I love _you_."

He didn't. But he managed to give her a look that wasn't quite a smile but so very warm that it could have melted the ice of Sitka VII.

_Keep that breathless charm_

_Won't you please arrange it?_

He twirled her into his arms, wrapped them around her waist, rested his chin in the hollow of her neck. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against his.

_'Cause I love you_

_Just the way you look_

_Tonight—baby_

_Just the way you look_

_Tonight—darlin'_

_Just the way you look_

_Tonight_

* * *

There was insanity.

There was pain.

There was magic.

And, eventually, it all had to end.

Around 10 pm—roughly four hours after Zurg's arrival—the Evil Emperor started coming to. Warp noticed this and knew that party-time was over. "Whoa, big fella," he said in the soothing tone of voice he'd used as a Ranger when dealing with drunks, holding his boss by the shoulders. "C'mon, let's getcha home."

He winked at Buzz. "Catcha later, Lightyear, rookies." His expression sobered as his gaze turned to the girl who'd given him something no one else had—forgiveness. "Goodbye, Erin."

"_Vaya con Dios_, Warp," she murmured.

He looked down at the floor, knowing enough Spanish to translate the farewell.

"Thanks for the sweeellll… _time_, Lightyear," Zurg grinned rather drunkenly at Buzz.

"Later, Zurg," Buzz said wearily, his blue eyes flitting over to meet Warp's.

Warp held that gaze evenly for a few seconds, then inclined his head. "See you, Buzz."

"Bye, Warp," the other man whispered.

* * *

_The doors had shut behind them, and XR had finally pressed __**stop**__ on the camcorder, turning to his team and grinning. "Man, is this gonna be worth __**big**__ unibucks!"_

Erin smirked a little at the memory, tossing her wrap and purse onto her dresser and flinging herself down on the bed, still dressed. What a completely crazy night. She wondered how Buzz and Mira's dance would affect their relationship—she fervently hoped it would be for the better.

_Dear God, thank You for this day…_

She was asleep before she'd finished her prayer.

_It started out as a feeling_

_Which then grew into a hope_

_Which then turned into a quiet thought_

_Which then turned into a quiet word_

—"The Call," Regina Spektor, _Prince Caspian_

**10.15.10**

**Author's Note:**

Rewriting this one was definitely a work of love. Much more serious and probably not nearly as funny as the original, but I like it much better now. Hope you enjoy it, too, Historian and KJ!

Disclaimers: this chapter is adapted from the short story "Handling" in Calvin Wong's BLoSC fanfic anthology _Evil Never Sleeps_. I own absolutely none of the songs I've used here. Cookies to anyone who recognizes the quotes the characters use. The Buzz/Mira scene is adapted from a Ships 50 one-shot of mine: "42. Affection." (And yes, "Convenient Slow Dance" is a real term. And _Vaya con Dios_ means "Go with God.")

_**Please review!**_


	10. Chapter 9: Wars Seen and Unseen

**Author's Note:**

First off, let me say that I didn't think I'd ever update this again. Really, I didn't. But the other day, I was looking through an old, overflowing folder on my laptop, and I found this basically-complete ninth chapter for _Breakaway_. I was in a slightly BLoSC mood anyway, so I thought, _Eh, I'll just finish this one and upload it_. I can't promise that I'll ever update again, especially since I can no longer remember my plans for the following chapters (I'd foolishly never typed them out). But at least you can have this.

You might also notice that I deleted all other chapters. That was something I was debating with myself for a long time—whether or not I'd delete the old chapters before I rewrote them. I decided just to get it over with, so now they're gone. Sorry about that, but I didn't want any confusion between the original story and the (drastically different) rewrite.

**To my reviewers:**

KJ: I'm sorry it took so long to give you this little offering, hon. Hope you enjoy it, though, and I'm glad you enjoyed the quotes in the previous chapter.

Historian1912: I feel kinda like I answered your review in-part, ages ago… but I can't be for sure, so I'll just answer here. ^_^ So glad you think the previous chapter was awesome! =) Erin just has a good memory—I can sing all but one of those songs off the top of my head. I... have a pretty good idea I know why you'd want to acquaint Warp with the business-end of a flamethrower, yeah. Hopefully this chapter will leave you more favorably-inclined toward him. ;D All in all, thank you for the wonderful review! That chapter took a lot of work, so it's good to know that work paid off.

Momo: Thank you very much for all the praise! I'm so glad you've enjoyed this.

Morgan Williams: Thank you very much, and I'm glad you've enjoyed the Christian overtones. Not many reviewers have mentioned that (before now, anyway), so it was really nice that you did.

Jakkin: Ha-ha, it's a case of the reader getting more out of the story than the writer put into it! The "kid sister" bit was not actually a conscious nod to the movie, though, as you've pointed out, it does parallel Mira and Buzz. Maybe it was subconscious on my part? *shrugs* Dunno. Regardless, thank you!

Darkmatterfangirl: Thank you very much (and thank you for all the faves)! I'm glad you cried (yes, glad), and I'm humbled by the fact that you return to this story to get yourself back in the BLoSC mood! I wish I could do a sequel, but, at this point in time, it doesn't seem like that's possible. But, hey, don't give up hope. And God bless you, too! ((P.S. I read your profile, and I think it's so neat that a) you like Buzz/Mira and b) you're an AIO fan! High five!))

dp: Thank you very much! I'm so glad that Chapter 3 was able to help you, and that you enjoyed the Christian themes. God bless you, too!

**Disclaimer:** BLoSC characters and situations belong to Disney. Mara Jade (Skywalker) belongs to Lucasfilm Ltd. and Timothy Zahn. Erin Frame and Zomega are _© Aleine Skyfire 2010. All rights reserved_.

* * *

**==Chapter IX==**

**Wars Seen and Unseen**

_-/-/-/-/-/-/-/No incoming viruses detected/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/ _

FROM: Warp Darkmatter **luv2sh00t&galaxy,net**

TO: Mara Jade **jb_sherlockian****&infinity,com**

CC:

BCC:

SUBJECT: Apology

Erin,

I wouldn't blame you if you didn't reply to this or deleted me from your contacts. I really _am_ sorry. Please believe me when I say that. Just ask Buzz—I don't apologize often.

Sincerely,

~Warp Darkmatter

* * *

"Knock-knock… may I come in?"

Warp whirled in his seat at the sound of the Old Galactic accent and the familiar voice belonging to it. "Aunt Z," he breathed.

In the doorway of his little-used Planet Z office stood a tall, black-clad woman with lavender skin and dusty violet hair. Her mismatched eyes—one a large cybernetic red eye and the other a natural indigo—casually swept the room and came to rest on him. Warp knew better, though, than to think that she was really as at ease as she appeared to be. Her literally-supercomputer brain was constantly on the alert, relentlessly analyzing and assessing.

She swung into the office with feline grace and perched herself on his desk. "Aren't you a little old to be calling me that, love?" A lock of violet hair fell over the cybernetic eye, and she didn't bother to push it back.

Warp folded his arms behind his head and leaned back in his seat, grinning but surreptitiously running his own analysis. "Nope." She was one of the three people in the galaxy around whom he felt completely safe—ironic, since she was also one of the most dangerous people in the galaxy. The five years that had passed since he'd last seen her had not been kind. She was paler and thinner than ever, there was a dark ring under her natural eye, and her face was creased by a few lines that hadn't been there before.

"You haven't asked me why I'm here." Her whole form still radiated that tensed-coil energy and unflagging determination—signs marking her as one of the few surviving Purple Guards, the elite of the old Zeta Empire.

"I already know." All traces of his grin were gone now. "You heard about last night."

"One up on that. I was _there_."

Warp sighed. "Mistress of Disguise."

"Thank you. So…"

He ran his real hand over his face. "As far as I can tell, it had no cause and was completely harmless."

"He's sleeping it off right now." Not a question.

He exhaled heavily. "Yeah. Lost consciousness on the ride home, and he's been out ever since. Heh, y'know, you peel the chest plate and pauldrons off, and he's actually deceptively light."

"I know." She smirked a little. "Had to carry him once out from a bar fight."

Warp's eyes widened.

"That was a long time ago. He couldn't've been any older than twenty-seven, and very few people knew yet about his new appearance."

"…ah."

It was a good minute before either spoke again. "I miss that…"

Warp looked away. "Can't imagine what that must be like—to have known him when he was a kid and to know him now."

She ran a hand through layered, shoulder-length hair. "It was hard, at first. But after almost forty years, you get used to it."

Warp turned his gaze back to her and searched her face. "It still hurts."

She laughed humorlessly. "Warp Darkmatter, you are not as dumb as you act around Zurg sometimes."

He snorted. "I'd better not be. I _was_, I'd hope somebody would be decent enough to shoot me and put me out of my misery."

She eyed him speculatively. "The idea regardless is not without merit."

"Ooo, you _hurt_ me." His expression was theatrically wounded, but his twinkling eyes gave him away.

She shook her head. "Warp, I'm not here for small talk."

He sobered instantly, leaning forward in his seat. "And?"

She looked down at the floor.

"Zomega, it's been five years. Five bloody _years_ since that big fight with Zurg."

"He kicked me off," she said flatly.

"He could kick you all the way from here to the Core and you'd bounce right back! Why _didn't_ you come back?"

She blew at her bangs. "Do you know _why_ we fought?"

Warp shook his head. "I have no idea."

She sighed and smoothed back her hair, pushing herself off the desk. "Five years ago, Warp. What happened five years ago that was big?"

He remembered very well what Zurg did five years ago, and it didn't take an evil genius to connect the dots from there. "The planetary conquest campaign."

"Yes." She began to pace. "We argued about it—I jumped on his case _big-time_—and he told me to get off his planet." She glanced at him. "Trust me when I say that you don't _ever_ want to hear that tone of voice directed at _you_."

Warp shivered involuntarily. "So why're you here now? Why didn't you come back after the Unimind fiasco?"

She sighed. "I was on an undercover assignment for someone who will remain anonymous. You know how the game works."

"That was ten months ago."

"I was on the job for another six months."

"Okay, _four_ months. Fact remains, you didn't—"

"'I didn't _what_?" she exploded. "What was I _supposed_ to do, Warp—_you_ tell _me_! Tell Zuriel off? I've been doing _that_ since _before_ you were _born_—bloody lot of good it's ever done!"

Warp stood and wordlessly moved to a nearby shelf, taking a bottle and a shot glass. He filled the shot glass and handed it to Zomega. She hesitated briefly, then accepted the glass with a muttered "thanks" and downed the drink.

He perched himself on his desk. "Sorry," he said quietly. "Life's been a little rough lately."

One corner of Zomega's mouth pulled back. "Ah, yes, the redoubtable Erin Frame."

Warp tensed. "None of your business, Zomega."

"Really?" She eyed him. "Warp, she's a kid."

"No, she's not."

She arched a skeptical eyebrow.

"You talk to her for longer than five minutes, and you find out she's a pretty mature young woman."

"_Young_ woman," Zomega emphasized. "Buzz's sister, Ranger-to-be, sweet, innocent… antithesis of you?"

"Shut up," he snarled.

But her expression was anything but mocking. "Warp, I don't want to see you get hurt—for that matter, I don't want to see _her_ get hurt, either. How do you think this is going to end?"

"I don't know," he ground out.

"I can give you a few scenarios, only the pleasant ones are totally unrealistic."

"Zomega!"

"_Warp_."

"Good grief, you're acting like I proposed to her!"

"You were _waltzing_, for stars' sakes! You don't get much more romantic than that!"

"Nobody else was offering to dance with her! I was being—oh, boy…"

"_Nice_. Yeah, I know."

Warp's mouth worked, but nothing came out.

Zomega slumped against the wall. "Warp…"

"That was a long time ago," he mumbled, staring at the floor.

"Beg pardon?"

He glanced up. "Shalli. That was a long time ago."

"…Fourteen years?"

He nodded.

She sighed. "You're scared. Aren't you." Again, not a question.

He shrugged. "None of my more… vested attempts at relationships ever came off."

"No… no, they didn't, did they." Warp didn't bristle, because he knew she was more thinking aloud than speaking to him. "So what's different about this one?"

"'Scuse me?"

She was trying to make eye contact with him, he knew, but he wasn't going for it. "This time around is different, isn't it?" she pressed. He still wouldn't—couldn't—look up. "Hate to break it to you, Warp, but you've got yourself a mess on your hands."

He exhaled slowly. "…I know."

* * *

_-/-/-/-/-/-/-/No incoming viruses detected/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/ _

FROM: Erin Lightyear **jb_sherlockian****&infinity,com**

TO: Warp Darkmatter **luv2sh00t&galaxy,net**

CC:

BCC:

SUBJECT: Re: Apology

I changed my ID. Like it?

~Erin

* * *

_-/-/-/-/-/-/-/No incoming viruses detected/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/ _

FROM: Warp Darkmatter **luv2sh00t&galaxy,net**

TO: Erin Lightyear **jb_sherlockian****&infinity,com**

CC:

BCC:

SUBJECT: Re: Re: Apology

O.o Um, yeah? Um, that was a weird reply?

* * *

_-/-/-/-/-/-/-/No incoming viruses detected/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/ _

FROM: Erin Lightyear **jb_sherlockian****&infinity,com**

TO: Warp Darkmatter **luv2sh00t&galaxy,net**

CC:

BCC:

SUBJECT: Re: Re: Re: Apology

*sighs* I already forgave you, you idiot. As for continuing our emails, I honestly don't know. Give me some time.

_Vaya con Dios_,

~Erin

* * *

Erin pushed herself away from the desk with a sigh. She looked forward to starting her training with Buzz next week, and not just because it was her first step towards becoming a Ranger. She could use the distraction from her thoughts—specifically, her thoughts regarding a certain former Ranger.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

FINALLY. Finally, finally, _finally_, I get to unveil Zomega. She was created about two years ago as a combination of many concepts, not the least of which was Saron's (a.k.a. Gurz) OC Shade. But it would be unfair to both Shade and Zomega to say that Zomega is a copy—Zomega merely shares a history with Zurg like Shade does, and would probably not exist if not for Shade's inspiration. End resemblance. On the other hand, Zomega _is_ largely inspired by Major Motoko Kusanagi of the anime _Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex_—with a dash of Mara Jade and Talon Karrde of the _Star Wars_ Expanded Universe. In fact, we could almost say that Zomega is a Western-animation version of Major Kusanagi. Almost.

So there's a large back-story lurking there with Zurg. I say "lurking" because even when I was posting stuff up on the XR fan club, it was still in the experimental stage and I was afraid I'd already put up too much (I probably had). But the fact is that just about _nobody_ knows the full story I've got in my head. I'm not even sure that I'll ever get far enough to reveal it, and I don't have it all straight, either. And… just maybe… I'm even a little scared to reveal something so radical. It seriously is. Zurg back-stories range from the imaginative to the unbelievable, but this really differs from anything else I've seen. I'm not boasting—I'm just stating a fact based on what I've seen. It's because it's so radical that I've held back all these years because I'm genuinely _afraid_ of the backlash I know I could well receive.

Anyway, I enjoyed writing Warp in this chapter. Zomega, too, of course. And, again, I don't know when I'll update again, if ever. But, please, don't let that stop you from reviewing! I really hope that some of my readers of old will come back to this and pick it back up, and that I'll get to hear what they think. So, yes…

_**Please review!**_

**1.05.12**_**  
**_


	11. Chapter 10: The Next Generation

**Author's Note:**

WOW! Here I am again, so soon! Several things to thank for that: Ranger-Nova, a new fan whose review encouraged me to do more; getting into _Star Trek_; and needing a break from online college. What was really getting to me on Chapter 10 was whether to go into Erin's first summer in the 31st century like I did with the old version, _Watermark_, or to skip it completely and go straight to Milky Way Academy. You'll see in a minute which spacelane I chose. Enjoy!

**To my reviewers:**

Historian1912: Okay, no moaning, mister—you know, you never did say in your review what you actually thought of Chapter 9. *expectant look* Anyway, I still can't promise anything approaching regular updates, but I'll try to give you chapters more often than once in a blue moon. ;D

Kgirl1: Thank you very much! I have to admit that I don't read many OC stories myself, but such fics do tend to be poorer quality. I hope to raise the bar with my own fic and show people just how good OC!fic can get. Buzz/Mira fan? High-five!

Ranger-Nova: Like I said, you were part of my inspiration to continue, so thank you for that! Your review was flattering and very encouraging! I must admit, I'm relieved and encouraged by what you said about Zurg, and, like you, I'm willing to accept pretty much any "version" of his character as long as it's well-written. Now, I have had problems in the past with trying to capture his unique blend of lethalness and campiness, but I'm working on it. When I gather enough confidence to try to write a canonical-sounding Zurg, he'll reappear in _Breakaway_ (I don't consider Chapter 8 as counting). I'd like to continue and finish _Penumbra_ someday, if I can work out a good, cohesive plot for it—I'm glad you enjoyed it! God bless!

* * *

**Disclaimer:** BLoSC is the property of Disney. _Star Trek _is the property of Paramount. Sherlock Holmes, thank goodness, resides in the public domain and thus belongs to the world. Erin Frame, Ricki Sunflare, Ice Ellemore, and Windy Terrik are _© Aleine Skyfire 2010. All rights reserved_.

* * *

**==Chapter 10==**

**The Next Generation**

_"I look around at the new cadets now and can't help thinking... has it really been so long? Wasn't it only yesterday we stepped onto the Enterprise as boys? That I had to prove to the crew I deserved command... and their respect?"_

—James T. Kirk

It was the best of summers; it was the worst of summers.

For Erin, it was both. For Mira, it was the latter. For Buzz, well… one would rarely ever be able to tell how life was affecting him or not affecting him. For all his many and varied emotional displays, he seemed never to change.

Captain Lightyear put his new sister through a grueling training regime. Erin's legs and back had never been strong, and the increase in height after her spinal surgery required further strengthening. There were times when she was ready to swear, ready to shout at Buzz, ready to quit. She would say, "What am I doing here? I'm not a hero—I'm an artist. So why am I doing this to myself?"

Buzz's answer was always the same. "Because this is where your heart is." He found himself having to "be there" a lot for both his sister and his copilot.

Mira went through a lot that summer, not the least of which was being forced into marriage and then rescued from it. There was also sunburn on Mahambas VI and the Matter Transport Ray. Her teammates were seeing a slightly quieter, slightly more serious Ranger Nova by fall.

* * *

Milky Way Academy was _magnificent_, shining in the morning sun as if it was composed entirely of steel and glass. As Buzz drove nearer, Erin found that that impression was not far from the truth. "Wow," she breathed.

"Impressive, isn't it?"

"Impressive, _mi hermano_, does _not_ go far enough."

Buzz chuckled as he pulled into the parking lot. "This place is probably more what _you'd_ expect from the future, considering that your time period was the golden age of science fiction."

"Yeah… Yeah, this is, and it was." Those little twinges that accompanied thoughts about her own time were less frequent and less painful, but they still hurt. "It's sad. Science fiction is such a different genre nowadays, all alternate history and space opera and stories that are as much fantasy as they are sci-fi."

Buzz did not immediately reply. Instead, he got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side, opening the door. "After you, _señorita_."

"_Muchas gracias_."

"Are you nervous?"

"You couldn't tell?"

"I think you're succeeding in that impassivity thing."

"Oh, good. Would you be happy to know that my heart's in my throat and my knees are weak?"

"Nope. Buck up, kiddo, 'cause a _lot's_ going to be happening to you in the next couple of years."

"That sounded sufficiently ominous."

Buzz rubbed his neck. "Yeeeah."

Erin had long since been registered to start training in the Academy in the new school year. Buzz's presence today was twofold—get her to the place since she didn't have a car yet, and act as moral support. "Just relax, will you? I trained you well; you'll do just fine."

She stopped, and he halted to face her. "I'm going to miss you," she said quietly.

"You're… not going to get mushy on me… are you?"

Erin meant to laugh, but the sound came out more as a hitched sob. "Tryin' not to, sorry."

Buzz wrapped his arm around her—far more comfortable with the gesture by now—and squeezed her gently. "You'll get leave every now and then, not to mention the occasional visit from Star Command's Finest to give lectures to the cadets."

Erin grinned past the tears forming in her eyes. "Ooo, something to look forward to."

"Don't get snarky on me, either, kid."

"Yessir."

* * *

The first day at Milky Way was very basic. The first-year cadets each received a bodysuit, a training uniform, and a dress uniform. They were assigned to four-person dorms. They were given a crash course on navigating the campus, followed by an hour-long description of what their classes entailed. The day was wrapped up by a brief pep talk by Commander Nebula and Captain Lightyear.

When the cadets were dismissed, it was only three o'clock in the afternoon.

Erin felt lost in a sea of people her age that included many different races. Her initial impression of Star Command's Rangers had been that they were a fairly small body, certainly no larger than a thousand beings. She didn't know how many beings joined the Academy each year, but the number of cadets this year was surely out of the ordinary. There had to be at least a hundred young adults here _in their first year_, not to mention the fifty or so that were in their second. That was over ten percent of Star Command's existing force!

She was still taking in her surroundings with undisguised awe when a voice called her name. "Erin Frame?"

She whirled around to see an alien girl—Derriyan, she thought, if that was the race with the big eyes and the large, pointed ears—approaching her. The girl's skin was a lovely mint green, her hair was a near-black teal, and her large eyes were violet. Everything about her radiated purposefulness, intelligence, and charm.

Then Erin recognized her from the roster. "Rikaena Sunflare?"

"Guilty as charged," the other girl smiled, reaching Erin and shaking her hand. "Is this exciting or what?"

"Oh, sure. So exciting that I might have a heart-attack from the stress," Erin said dryly, grinning. "So, I guess we're dorm-mates."

"Guess so! Shall we go check out our dorm?"

"Absolutely."

As they walked towards the residential area, they found themselves joined by other cadets. "So," said Rikaena, "how did you decide to join Star Command?"

"Mostly 'cause of my brother, I guess," Erin shrugged. "Well, _adoptive_ brother."

"Oh? One of the Rangers?"

"Oh, no," Erin moaned. "I didn't say that. Rikaena, you did _not_ hear me say that!"

"Okay, okay, relax, relax. And, hey, call me Ricki—I hate my real name." The Derriyan grinned, and Erin had to grin back.

Potential disaster narrowly averted. And… she liked this girl already. A lot. "All rightie, then, Ricki."

XXX

"I'm an astrophysicist," Ricki explained as they walked. "At least, that was what I got my Masters degree in."

Erin's jaw dropped. "You have a _Masters_? How old _are_ you?"

"Nineteen."

Erin's eyebrows hit her hairline. "Holy cow, I'm talking to a prodigy! And you want to be a Space Ranger… why?"

Ricki laughed and blushed, her skin turning a darker green. "I wanted to be a Space Ranger long before I entered college—"

"Which was when?" Erin interrupted.

"Ah, five years ago."

"Holy cow."

Ricki laughed self-consciously again. "Someday, I'll pick those studies back up and get my doctorate, but I really want to be a Space Ranger in the meantime. I want to be one of the best and earn a promotion to Star Command _Detective_. That's a pretty rare title, you know, but I know I can do it. I want to be like Sherlock Holmes, only actually _in_ the official police force."

Erin's head was swimming with surprise after surprise. "You're a Sherlockian?"

The alien girl's ears pricked up. "You are?"

"Yes!"

Ricki punched the air. "Hot rockets!"

Erin laughed. "It's just amazing how Sherlock Holmes has not only _survived_ eleven centuries but also _spread_ across the galaxy! Talk about enduring fame!"

"The truths he gave us, the truths Watson presented, are universal. They're just as applicable now in the thirty-first century galaxy-at-large as they were in nineteenth-century London."

Erin cocked her head in curiosity. "Actually, that reminds me of something."

"Mm?"

"The galaxy measures years—and time, for that matter—by an Earthling measurement rather than some measurement developed somewhere else. Why?"

Ricki stared at her. "Didn't you learn in—wait."

Erin froze. Ricki was a genius… and a Sherlockian. That question was probably the stupidest slip Erin had ever made.

"You use the phrase 'holy cow'; that's an old Earthling expression that died out sometime in the twenty-third century."

"Oh, Ricki, _please_ not a Sherlock Scan."

"When you talked about Sherlock Holmes's survival just now, you sounded like you couldn't believe it, like it was new to you." The alien violet eyes bored into Erin's very human brown ones. "And you don't know why the galaxy-at-large uses the Earthling measurements for time and years."

Erin could scarcely breathe. "What does that tell you?"

Ricki took a step back. "My imagination has an explanation," she said slowly, "but I'm not sure my brain wants to listen."

"Maybe you should give your imagination a little credit," Erin murmured.

Ricki shook her head. "But it's so wild! I mean, time-travel…"

Erin said nothing, merely met Ricki's gaze with equal strength.

"Sweet mother of Venus."

"It's true, Ricki," Erin said quietly. "It's true, I swear—I even have proof, witnesses…"

"Okay, okay." Ricki held up a hand, breathing slightly quicker than normal. "Okay. Wow…"

"Yeah."

Ricki shook her head. "So… you're from—what, several centuries ago?—a time when mankind was closer to its roots, and you can't figure out the answer?"

Erin shook her head.

"Erin." Ricki managed a small smile. "This is the thirty-first century of _Anno Domini_. The Year of Our Lord. _Our_ Lord, Erin, the same Adonai Who created not just _The_ Earth, but the Secondary Earths as well. What other way _could_ we measure time but by honoring the only birth of our Creator in fleshly form?"

* * *

The first week seemed to alternate between crawling at a snail's pace to flying out the window—Erin's words to Ricki later. Their other two dorm-mates were Isadore Ellemore, an honest-to-goodness Tangean Royal, and Windy Terrik, an American Southerner. Isadore, who insisted on being called by her nickname "Ice," was eighteen and had idolized Princess Mira all her life—her parents were none too happy that Ice was following in Mira's footsteps. At 5'5", Windy was the smallest of the four, but an absolute powerhouse. She intended to take extra classes to become one of the rare Rangers who could perform battle surgery, and no one doubted for a moment that she could handle both the stress of the extra classes and real-life operations.

"We could almost be the original crew of the _Enterprise_," Erin joked. It was Thursday night, and they were unwinding before lights out. "Windy'd make a perfect Bones, and Ricki could be Spock."

"The _Enterprise_?" Ice asked, confused.

"You mean you _don't_ know the most famous ship in science fiction?" Windy demanded.

Ice shook her head. "My family is very strictly Tangean Isolationist—that means they avoid Off-Worlder stuff like the plague."

"Craters, girl, we're gonna have to sit you down for some serious sci-fi marathons," said Ricki. "Anyway, Erin, you never said who you and Ice would be."

"I couldn't come up with a match for Ice—I mean, you and Windy were pretty obvious, but…"

"Maybe it's too soon to tell. She could be a Sulu or a Chekhov or a Uhura—"

"If anybody were to be Uhura," Erin interjected, "it'd be you."

"I thought I was Spock."

"You can be both."

"Well, you'd definitely be a Kirk."

Erin blushed, and Ricki and Windy burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" Ice frowned, and the other two laughed even harder.

"Captain Kirk," Windy gasped out at last, wiping at her eyes. "He's kinda a larger-than-life hero. He's the kinda guy who gets himself and his friends into all these crazy situations and manages to get them back out again by brains or good ole kick—"

"His philosophy is basically to take life by the horns," Ricki overrode Windy, "and never say die. He doesn't believe in no-win scenarios."

"Sounds like Buzz Lightyear," was Ice's innocent comment.

That set Ricki and Windy off again. "Yeah, it does," Erin agreed, feeling her skin flush again. She glared at Ricki. "I can't _believe_ that you think I could—"

Ricki sobered and met Erin's gaze evenly… and Erin was struck once more by the utter alien quality of her eyes. Shivering, she felt as if every nerve in her body had come alive. "Call it… your first, best destiny."

* * *

The two hundred cadets of the Universe Protection Program piled into the indoor Neil Armstrong Stadium on Friday afternoon. Standing before, rather than behind, the lectern in the center was Captain Lightyear, looking especially grave. Erin frowned as she took her seat with her dorm-mates, wondering if something terrible had happened.

"Your attention, please!" Buzz called out. Without the aid of a microphone, his voice still reached everyone in the cavernous room that could house one million beings and held only two hundred today. The murmuring and twittering of the crowd instantly died out. "Thank you.

"Cadets of Star Command, I have an important announcement to make. As of next week, your training will change drastically. You will keep some of the old, time-honored classes, but new ones are being added. Star Command is stepping up its training regime."

He paused, and appeared to be listening to someone in the audience. Erin couldn't hear the cadet. Buzz straightened and said, "What I am about to tell you, what you are about to engage in, must be kept an absolute secret for your own safety as much as anyone else's. So raise your right hand or corresponding appendage, and repeat after me: I (say your name)…"

A chorus of names rose.

"…do solemnly swear… to keep a secret… everything I am about to hear… for my own safety… for the safety of my classmates… and for the good of Star Command. All right, thank you."

Erin and Ricki exchanged wary glances.

Buzz sighed and clasped his hands together behind him. "Look, I really wish there was some other way we could do this without having to be secretive about it, but our hand has been forced. Some of you may be aware that Commander Nebula and I have petitioned to the Galactic Senate several times in the past to make a decisive military strike against the Evil Emperor Zurg. These proposals were always voted down. However…" Buzz's voice did not lower so much as it darkened, and he leaned forward, his sharp blue eyes flitting over the crowd as if to look each cadet in the eye.

Erin had never seen her brother like this before, had never known he had such speaking skills. A chill skittered down her spine.

"However, the galaxy has steadily progressed into a more dangerous place in the past few years. Zurg is stepping up his bid for galactic power, and he is not the only villain intensifying his efforts. The stage is being set for another galactic war, but the Senate will not allow a new interplanetary army to be formed.

"Commander Nebula and I have therefore decided… to create a small, covert military force out of our new influx of cadets."

The stadium came alive with nearly two hundred voices. Erin fell back against her seat, stunned.

Buzz let the commotion go for a minute, then held up his hand. "Quiet! Quiet. All right. It's a shock, I know. But we can't afford to continue to go about our daily lives as if nothing is happening, as if the galaxy isn't slowly falling apart. It is, and it'll be Star Command's responsibility to pick up the pieces."

Ricki stood and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Sir!" she shouted. "What would make us different from a tyrannical secret police or secret military force? Capital Planet's history is replete with examples of such things going wrong!"

"Very true, Cadet!" Buzz nodded, apparently impressed. "Our force will be based on the articles in the Alliance Constitution that provide for the formation and operation of an army. The only article that we will be subverting is Article 36, which states that an interplanetary military force must be approved by the Senate. The loophole here is that our little 'sleeper force,' if you will, exists within an already-approved paramilitary force, Star Command."

"Nice," Ricki murmured.

"I realize that over fifty cadets here are in their second year," Buzz continued. "Normally, you would be graduating next spring. This new program, however, means that you will be continuing your training for one more year to receive the full benefits that the first-years will."

The stadium was hushed, every being in the room hanging on Captain Lightyear's words.

"You cannot be a full army in your own right. For most races and ethnicities, you're too small even to be a regiment, let alone a corps! But you will be trained to be the best small, specialized force you can be. You will be trained as commandoes, and you will succeed."

The crowd burst out in applause. Standing and clapping with the rest of them, Erin and Ricki exchanged another glance—already, they were developing a chemistry to the point of being able to read each other. Ricki was as conflicted as Erin: excited, but concerned. They would monitor together the development of their little force, Erin knew. And the moment either saw something they knew was wrong, Erin would contact her brother. She was not opposed to a military force, but she was definitely concerned as to the legality of its formation and the ways in which it might be used in the future.

Buzz raised a salutary fist as his voice rose. "You are the future of Star Command! You will be our secret weapon against Zurg and his colleagues, our best defense against anyone who threaten our lives and our liberty! Citizens will look to us for safety, for preservation of our basic rights as sentient beings, and you will lead the way! God bless the Next Generation of Star Command!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

After three years, we _finally_ reach THE ACADEMY! I know, this chapter is very different from its predecessors—the only canonical character we see in-person is Buzz. We're also introduced to three more OCs, and we know there's about two hundred more with whom Erin will be interacting in the future.

From here, the story will be different. We've transitioned from Act I, the setup of the series, to Act II, where things really start happening. We'll be seeing a lot of Erin's dorm-mates, as well as the other cadets; and, on the other side of the law, I hope to show you a decent amount of Warp and Zomega, starting next chapter… and there _will_ be a next chapter.

From now on, this is a different fic. This isn't _just_ about the canonical characters anymore—this is about a new generation rising up to challenge the (albeit shifting) status quo. This is still about Erin and the impact that she makes as an extra person in Team Lightyear's orbit, but this is also about the impact she and her dorm/teammates make in their generation of cadets. ("The Next Generation" is a deliberate reference to _Star Trek_—while TNG may or may not have a marked influence on _Breakaway_, _Star Trek_ itself _does_.)

The observant reader might recall that Erin was originally not going to be staying at the Academy and that she was only 5'3" after her surgery. Both items are hereby recalled and will be edited. Erin's new post-surgery height is 5'9", and all mention of Erin staying with Mira during the school year will be edited.

Until next time, God bless.

_**Please review.**_


	12. Chapter 11: Challenge the Future

**Author's Note:**

Okay, this has been sitting on my laptop for a _month_. Longer than that, actually, if you also count the many false starts. But it should been _uploaded_ a month ago, except for the fact that I no longer have Internet at home. *sob* So this was the first chance I've had to post this up (hence breaking longstanding my no-Sunday-posts rule).

Anyhoo, after those false starts, I gained inspiration from reading up on _Star Trek_… and I ran with my idea. Expect to see a lot more _Star Trek_ here in the future, especially as it's more compatible with BLoSC than _Star Wars_ is. Galactic travel has now been retconned from hyperspace to warp speed, because the latter, too, is more compatible with BLoSC than the former. (Lightspeed just _can't_ get you across the galaxy in one day—c'mon, BLoSC writers, remember Einstein?)

Also, welcome four new cadets, all boys this time: Indy, Cody, Eda-Ji-Kep, and Clutch. Expect to see a lot more of these guys in the future!

Btw, this fic now has its own TV Tropes page: http : / / tvtropes . org / pmwiki / pmwiki . php / FanFic / ForGood Please check it out!

**To my reviewers:**

Kgirl1: You're welcome—thank _you_! I think Erin's going to be needing that luck in this chapter… ^_^ Nooo, no Beer yet (yes, that _is_ what it's called! *grins*), I'm afraid, but quite possibly a hint of it in the next chapter! I'm trying to be careful and realistic with the development of that relationship, as well as respectful to the canonicity of the series. But it WILL come, I promise you!

Historian1912: Oh. *grins* So I can't really respond to your comments on chapter 9, but thanks for making them! As far as the summer scenes go, scroll down to my review response to Darkmatterfangirl—that should make you feel better. =D I think you'll be happy with the further development of the girls in this chapter—and hopefully pleased to see some new male characters. Ha-ha, glad you like Windy, even if it's due to shared geography. And, no, I'm an Eastern-Midwesterner pretty hard—I don't feel bad about saying that online, 'cause that's just part of my personality. I did know about the "y'all," but thanks anyway for pointing that out. I always welcome help in fleshing out characters. Every team member _will_ have some kind of special skill eventually, count on it. That's just the rules of team dynamics in _any_ form of fiction. While I've no doubt that all Ranger cadets learn patching up, battle surgery is much more involved, so that _will_ be Windy's expertise (along with a general sort of psychiatrist attitude). In response to your P.S.s, glad you liked the "years" scene, and I haven't seriously thought about Star Command's ranking system in a long time. The series itself follows a police system, but Erin's generation of cadets might well be held up to a double standard of police _and_ military. Will have to work on that. God bless!

Ranger-Nova: Ha-ha, surprise! I'm glad that you're glad! =D And, yes, you really did _majorly_ inspire me to continue. Rabid Trekkie? I Vulcan-salute a girl who knows far more about _Star Trek_ than I. ^_^ I'm having difficulty finding TOS stuff on YouTube… or TNG, for that matter… but more serious download sites would not be advisable to use with my laptop. *sighs* So I just read up as much as I can. Ha, I was finally able to watch "Yukari Imprint" the other day for the first time in years, and I recognized Nichelle Nichols! That was cool! You might well be the only reader who caught the deleted scene quote, but I'm glad you did! I was first introduced to that scene through a wonderful fanfic, and then I discovered the whole thing when I found the script on IMSDb. I'm glad that quote made your day! I'm also glad that you like the new direction of the story! Well, we'll see what happens—even I'm not quite sure at this point! All I know is that this development will make the events of "War and Peace and War" that much more interesting! Thank you so much! God bless.

Darkmatterfangirl: Thank you! Ha-ha, I'm glad you enjoyed the summer scenes so much—I think I _will_ do some kind of series extra that takes place in Summer 3009. I do like those scenes; it's just that they didn't fit with the new flow of the fic. Neither chapter 9 nor 10 are flashbacks: 9 takes place the day after 8, and 10 takes place three or four months later. Sorry for the confusion! Glad you like the interaction between Warp and Erin, and very glad you like Zomega! I've put a lot of work into her. Re your comments on the previous chapter: aww! *blushes _hard_* Thank you so very much! God bless!

**Disclaimer:** Songs and quotes do not belong to me. _Buzz Lightyear of Star Command_, _Star Trek_, Indiana Jones, and _Stargate SG-1_ do not belong to me. Erin and her dorm-mates, Indy, Cody, Eda-Ji-Kep, and Clutch most _emphatically_ **belong** to me.

* * *

**==Chapter XI==**

**Challenge the Future **

_Listen as your day unfolds_

_Challenge what the future holds_

_Try and keep your head up to the sky_

—"You Gotta Be," Des'ree

"Doggone it, I'm a _writer_, not a tactician!"

"Aaand you win the Internet for your McCoy impression," Windy declared, smirking.

Erin growled and leveled a warning finger at their resident sawbones-in-training. "Watch it, or I'll agree to be captain just to toss you into the brig." Erin and her dorm-mates were clustered with another dorm-team, all male: Indy St. James, Cody Ricardo, Eda-Ji-Kep, and Clutch Donnell. At the training simulations, dorm-teams practiced both on their own and with other dorm-teams—and, sometimes, the cadets practiced entirely separately from each other. Thus far, there had been groupings of only two teams, but the cadets had been informed that they would train in large groupings in the future.

Dorm-team 76, Erin's team, and dorm-team 95, Indy's team, had been paired up with each only as of yet. The current simulations were space combat, with the cadets learning to handle an _Andromeda_-class Star Cruiser as well as the larger naval _Pendragon V_-class Battle Cruisers.

"C'mon, Erin," Indy urged, "this is basic stuff. Ricki, Cody, Eda-Ji-Kep, and I have all done just fine with it."

Erin laughed humorlessly. "_You_ are a _born_ leader, Mr. Space Cowboy, and _Ricki_ is too intelligent to fail at _whatever_ she does. Cody made it through sheer dumb luck—" Cody protested at that point—"and Eda-Ji-Kep… Well, to be honest, I don't know how _he_ made it—no offense, Eda-Ji-Kep."

"None taken, Er-In-Frame," the young alien said somberly. Despite the fact that Eda-Ji-Kep was basically a scale-covered humanoid, Erin couldn't stop picturing him as T'ealc from _Stargate SG-1_. He was big, terminally solemn, quiet, and deep-voiced… and he had the T'ealc-ish habit of saying people's whole names, though technically _that_ was a characteristic of his race, the Ged-Ti-Mana.

Ice leaned into the conversation. "Look, Erin. I don't want to be captain. Clutch doesn't want to be. Windy… what was it you said, Win?"

"Captaincy ain't my thing?"

"Yes, that was it."

Windy cocked an eyebrow. "Does the word 'ain't' not register in your vocabulary?"

Ice tilted her head to one side. "Should it?"

The Southern girl glanced aside sardonically. "Good grief."

Erin sighed loudly. "_Guys_. Just the thought of being the captain in the _simulation_ scares me to _death_. I'd much rather be the helmsman—we already know I'm good at it."

"Yeah, and as the helmsman, if the captain and first officer are down or away, _you_ have the conn," Indy pointed out. "You've gotta do it sooner or later."

Erin winced and threw her head down into her folded arms. "I'm gonna fail miserably," she groaned.

"Okay, so what if you do?" Windy demanded. "Go fail. Learn from it, and get over it."

Erin raised her head to glare at Windy. "Y'know what? You make a lousy shrink."

"C'mon, Erin," Indy urged, with a crooked smile reminiscent of his hero, Indiana Jones.

"Erin," Windy said firmly. Something in her tone made Erin really _look_ at her—the other girl's bright blue eyes were unnerving in their intensity. "Go. Fail. And learn."

* * *

Erin sank slowly into the captain's chair. Like the helmsman's chair, it was remarkably plushy to take some of the stress off the officers' bodies.

The bridge of a _Pendragon V_-class Battle Cruiser was shaped as a semicircle, with the captain's chair in the center background and the helmsman's and navigator's consoles in the center foreground. The _Pendragon V_ itself was shaped like a curved arrow, with two massive thrusters above and below the hull on each rear tip of the arrow. Unlike _Andromeda_-class Star Cruisers, none of the _Pendragon_ Battle Cruisers had been designed to land.

Of course, Erin couldn't see the "outside" of the ship, nor had she ever seen one in real life. The Ares Naval Tech _Pendragon_s had supposedly all been scrapped after the last war, and they were generally considered outdated anyway by the _Andromeda_s as well as Zurg's _Diabla II_-class Dreadnought.

Neither supposition was true, according to Lt. Commander Sulu, their veteran ship instructor. Two _Pendragon V_s remained in an abandoned spacedock orbiting one of the dozens of moons in the Capital System, as per Commander Nebula's orders. Captain Lightyear was the only senior Ranger still in active duty who knew that secret.

As far as the _Pendragon V_s technology was concerned, their weapons systems could pack twice the punch that Zurg's Dreadnought could. He had the jump on them in shields and communications, undoubtedly, but the sleeker _Pendragon_s had at least 1.5 Zurg's maneuverability. An _Andromeda_, on the other hand, had smaller laser cannons, weaker shields, and lesser communications than a _Pendragon V_—the only area in which an _Andromeda_ came out on top was in speed and maneuverability, having nearly as much capability there as one of the old _Saber_ starfighters.

Ice, who was seated at the comm., said, "Receiving a distress call, sir."

Erin prayed her voice wouldn't squeak or crack. "Put it on screen." Well, it wasn't Patrick Stewart, but it wasn't bad, either, thank goodness.

A static-filled image flickered to life on the forward viewscreen, which, unlike an _Andromeda_ forward view_port_, was a monitor screen rather than an actual window. The image showed a Caucasian male Ranger on the bridge of an _Andromeda_. _"…elp us,"_ the Ranger was saying. _"We…re…ng…ttack…rion…bula…"_

"Ranger Ellemore," Erin called.

"I'm trying, sir." She heard Ice working furiously at her console. "He said 'Orion Nebula'—the cloud is interfering with the signal."

"…_nought…eav…ire," _the transmission continued.

Erin nodded, even though she knew Ice would not be able to see her. "Ranger St. James, set course for one lightyear outside the Orion Nebula."

"Aye-aye, sir."

"Ranger Sunflare."

"Yes, sir?"

Erin motioned Ricki over.

"Captain," said Indy, "course laid in."

"Very good." Erin smiled tightly. "Warp nine—punch it." The ship shot forward into warp, and Erin turned to her First Officer. "Well, Rick, what do you think?"

Ricki arched one dark teal eyebrow.

Erin groaned. "Okay, Miss Vulcan—quit the roleplaying. In all seriousness, do you have any ideas about what might be going on?"

Ricki pursed her dark green lips briefly. "We didn't hear the entire transmission, Captain, but I note that we never heard anything that sounded remotely like the name 'Zurg'. He said that they were under attack, but any Ranger under attack from Zurg would have specified."

"He said 'nought,' Rick," Erin pointed out quietly.

The alien girl shrugged. "Zurg is not the only being in the galaxy with a Dreadnought. They _do_ pop up from time to time."

Erin considered this for a moment. "Ranger Eda-Ji-Kep. I need you to do a data search on Dreadnoughts—sightings, registries, known owners, anything."

"Aye, sir."

"Ranger Ricardo," Erin continued, "I want our laser cannons primed…"

She could feel Cody's dark eyes on her. "Sir?"

"Better prepare the torpedo launchers, as well, Ranger."

"Aye, sir."

Erin flicked a glance at Ricki, standing impassively to her right. "Number One, return to your station and stay sharp."

Ricki saluted slowly, a glimmer of humor in her violet eyes. "Aye, sir."

Erin leaned back in her seat, folded her hands together, pressed her forefingers to her lips, trying to remain the picture of perfect command calm. It wasn't easy. Her heart had to have been pounding ten lightyears a minute.

"ETA: five minutes, Captain," Indy reported.

They were going to be the longest five minutes of Erin's life.

XXX

When they came out of warp, the Orion Nebula loomed around them in all its majesty. Not one of the cadets could fail to be moved by the awesome sight.

"Sweet mother of Venus," Windy breathed.

"_Who is man that Thou art mindful of him?_" Erin whispered.

Then several consoles were beeping all at once, and the eight cadets snapped back to reality. "Red alert," Erin ordered. "Shields up."

The white lighting on the bridge turned red as klaxons began to wail.

"Forward shields at maximum," Clutch reported.

"Ranger Ellemore, hail that Dreadnought and get a transponder ID if you can," said Erin. The Dreadnought in question was immense, unquestionably a _Diabla I_-class and about twice the size of Zurg's familiar flagship.

"My _gosh_, look at the _size_ of that thing," Windy muttered.

An _Andromeda_ wove among a storm of laserfire from the _Diabla I_, but it was painfully clear that the little ship was losing. "Captain, if we don't open fire, they're going to destroy that Cruiser," Cody urged.

"Ranger Ricardo is right," said Ricki. "Sensors indicate that the Star Cruiser is basically being pummeled apart."

Erin shifted her jaw. "Ranger Ellemore?"

"Transponder ID makes no sense," Ice reported bemusedly, "and they're not responding to our hails."

Erin felt all eyes on her, and she hated it. It _sounded_ simple, clear-cut. One of their own was being pounded into oblivion out there, and they had a duty to their fellow Rangers. On the other hand, could Erin really order the destruction of an entire ship without knowing who was aboard or what its intent was?

It was then that she realized the purpose of this particular simulation. It was not just to put the cadets in combat situations where they had to do or die—it was to test the character of the cadet in the captain's seat. What decisions would he or she make, and how would they affect the situation, the captain's comrades, and the "galaxy"? Erin felt entirely justified in her earlier refusal of captaincy.

All this flashed through her mind in less than five seconds. She felt her face harden. "Ranger St. James, take us forward. Ranger Ricardo, fire cannons 1, 3, 2, and 4."

"Aye, sir."

"Aye, sir."

Erin heard confusion in Cody's affirmative, and she understood why. She hadn't given permission to go in guns blazing, which was what they would need to have any sort of advantage over a ship roughly twice their mass. But she didn't want an advantage. Not yet. The Dreadnought was simply ignoring them.

She wanted to get its attention.

"The Cruiser is hailing us," Ice called, forgetting to say _sir_ or _Captain_. "It's a simple SOS."

"Try to engage—"

"Sir, I think their communications are damaged beyond that."

Oh. Erin's jaw tightened as just one word presented itself to her mind: _Crap_.

Cody's shots hit the Dreadnought and splattered seemingly harmlessly on the massive shields. "Sir," he said uncertainly.

"Ranger, keep firing those cannons, and keep hitting those spots."

"Aye, sir." There was mild relief in his tone, as if his captain was finally making sense. Even the most substantial shields could not hold up under pressure when the same sections were hit over and over again.

Erin did not smile. "Ranger Ellemore, send the Cruiser an Evacuate signal. Let's hope they can receive that and have the sense to abandon ship."

"Aye, sir." A loud, insistent beep from Ice's console. "Sir, we're being hailed by the Dreadnought!"

Erin's heart shot up into her throat. _Finally_. "Put it on, quarter screen."

An image of the Dreadnought's bridge flickered to life in the top left corner of the viewscreen. The person facing the transmission pick-up startled them all: dusky violet skin, glowing crimson eyes, human facial structure. A Zeretanaen.

"Of course," Ricki muttered. "The last known _Diabla I_s were property of the Zeretanaen Empire."

Erin stared into the larger-than-life red eyes and felt her facial muscles tense further. "Unidentified Dreadnought, you are hereby ordered to—"

"Captain Erin Frame." The voice was cultured, pleasant, and it froze them all.

_Simulated beings were not supposed to know their names._

_C'mon, c'mon,_ Erin told herself, _UNFREEZE_. She did, and leaned forward marginally. "You are violating the Verdentian Peace Accords by firing upon a police vessel in Alliance space." The hardness in her voice surprised her. "You will desist immediately and prepare to be boarded, as per the dictates of the VPA."

The Zeretanaen smiled disarmingly. "Captain Frame, the Alliance is violating Zeretanaen space."

"You will cease firing upon the Star Cruiser immediately," Erin reiterated, inexorable.

"Captain," Ricki said quietly.

Erin glanced at Ice and made a slashing motion. Ice nodded, and Erin turned to the Derriyan. "What is it, Number One?"

"Ranger Eda-Ji-Kep transmitted his search results to my station," Ricki explained, "and Ranger Ellemore transmitted the transponder ID, as well, sir. It matches one of the Dreadnoughts of the Zeretanaen Imperial Military Forces: the ZIVS _Triumphant_."

Erin swallowed hard. She knew that ship—they all did. It was the former flagship of the Zeta Empire, the most powerful Dreadnought in recent history. "Thank you, Ricki," she said quietly. "Ice, restore audio."

Ice adjusted something on her console and nodded, and Erin whirled back around to face the Zetan. "Commander of the ZIVS _Triumphant_," Erin said coldly, "stand down _now_ and allow for an investigation of your claim." She heard Indy give a low whistle that she hoped wasn't received by the mike.

The Zetan lifted his chin. "I will not. The Orion Nebula has no rightful part in the Galactic Alliance."

Erin leaned forward again, human brown eyes flashing at alien red eyes. "The Orion Nebula was ceded to the Alliance nearly fifty years ago by Emperor Zuriel Zurg in the Zeta Quadrant Pact, and even he continues to honor the agreement."

"The concession was made because the young Emperor, may he distort in the galaxy's center, did not have the manpower to hold on to all his possessions. Today, we reclaim what is rightfully ours, and no one shall stand in our way." Emotion in Zetan eyes was different from emotion in human eyes, but Erin was sure that the commander's gaze softened marginally. "Leave now, and you will be unmolested."

Erin's eyes narrowed. "You have already molested a police vessel in direct violation of galactic neutral travel laws over a century old, and you will answer accordingly. _Stand down_ **now**, _Triumphant_, and prepare to be boarded."

The Zetan shook his head. "You leave me with no choice, Captain Frame." The transmission dissolved, leaving their view of the heavens unobstructed.

One powerful blast rocked their ship and nearly threw Erin from her seat. She swore aloud and snapped, "Ranger Donnell, damage report!"

"Shields down by thirty percent!"

Erin swore again. "Ranger Ricardo, arm torpedo launchers, lock onto Engineering, and fire!"

"Aye, sir!"

Even as their ship rocked again, several beautiful lances of deadly light streaked towards the Dreadnought. The massive ship _shuddered_.

"Captain, shields are down by another thirty percent!" Clutch wailed. "We have hull breaches on Decks 7 through 12!"

"Sir, we won't survive a fourth blow like that," Indy said quietly.

"Sir, the Rangers have jettisoned and are approximately two miles from us," Ricki announced.

Even as Ricki spoke, Erin was snapping off another order to Clutch, the Chief Engineer on this venture. "Divert all secondary power to the forward shields. Ice, give me shipwide comm."

"Aye, sir!"

"Aye, sir."

Another rocking blow. Clutch made a relieved noise, and Erin knew that she had bought them only a little time.

Erin depressed the comm. on the armrest. "Attention. This is Captain Frame speaking. All crewmen retreat to Decks 2 through 6 and enter escape pods. Repeat, all crewmen retreat to Decks 2 through 6 in the next thirty seconds and enter escape pods." She deactivated the comm. and said, "Ranger Donnell, in twenty-five seconds, reroute all power from Decks 7 through 14 to the thrusters."

"Sir?"

"That's an order, Ranger! Ricki, are our people docked yet?"

"Affirmative, Captain."

Their eyes met, Captain and First Officer, brown and violet, human and alien. In that moment, Erin knew that Ricki knew what she was planning. And the realization Erin received could have sent her back into her seat with crushing force.

Just weeks ago, Ricki had pegged Erin for being the Kirk of their team, and had quoted Spock from _The Wrath of Khan_, calling it her "first best destiny." Now… Now, Erin just _knew_, beyond a shadow of her most debilitating doubts. This was where they were meant to be, the two of them.

"Ice, comm. the Rangers from the Star Cruiser and tell them to get to an escape pod ASAP."

"Aye, sir."

"Range Donnell?"

"Five seconds, sir."

The huge torpedo launcher on the underbelly of the vast Dreadnought lit again. "Do it now, Ranger!" Erin shouted. "Ranger St. James, !"

Indy obeyed, and the ship shot forward, throwing them all back against their seats at the sudden increase of G-forces. The torpedo shot harmlessly past them.

"Cody, fire at Weapons!" Erin called with a distorted voice.

"Aye, sir," was the weak reply.

"Ricki, are all the pods full?"

"Affirmative! All life forms aboard the ship are in escape pods! It's just us."

"Thank God," Erin breathed. "Jettison immediately!"

She felt everyone's gaze upon her again, and she knew why. They believed she had just doomed them in a suicide run.

"Erin," Windy said gently, "this isn't _Star Trek_."

Erin nodded. "No, it's not. But it's not right, either. It almost **is** a _Kobayashi Maru_, except…"

"Except," Windy prodded.

Erin smiled slowly, her gaze focused on the Dreadnought filling their viewscreen. "Ranger St. James, is the autopilot still functioning?"

Indy eyed her. "Yes, sir."

"Lay in a warp speed one course for the Dreadnought's bridge. Ranger Donnell, reroute the navicomp's AI to Deck 1."

"Sir?"

She _felt_ Ricki get it. "We're going to jettison the bridge, Ranger Donnell."

"No way!" Windy shouted, her blue eyes wide. "Erin! You're a Tradeworld gambler!"

"Don't you forget it," Erin shot back. "Indy, Clutch?"

"Course inlaid, sir."

"AI rerouted, Captain."

Here's where it would have gotten difficult, had Erin not known about one more little trick the designers had put into the _Pendragon V_. Pulling up her armrest console, she quickly keyed in a captain's override code. It was still risky, but they stood a far better chance this way than if Indy was performing both functions alone. "All right, Ranger St. James. On my mark."

"Sir." His voice just barely reflected the anxiety she felt.

"Three. Two. One. MARK!" As one, Erin and Indy _punched it_.

They felt a tremendous _lurch_. One second later, they watched in silent awe as the _Pendragon_ sped towards its target like the arrowhead it was shaped as. Five seconds later, the viewscreen darkened, but not in time to prevent their vision from being overwhelmed by the unbearable brilliance of the explosion as the Battle Cruiser collided head-on with the Dreadnought. The detached bridge rocked in the waves of the aftermath like a sailing ship in the North Atlantic.

"Is everybody—" Erin caught the croak in her voice and cleared her throat. "Is everybody alive?" She didn't dare open her eyes—they hurt fantastically.

"Blinded like heck but in one piece," Windy reported. "Y'all agree?"

"Aye, sir."

"Aye, sir."

"Aye, sir."

"Aye, sir."

"Aye, sir."

"Aye, Jim." Ricki.

Indy made a confused noise. His real name _was_ Jim—understandably, he went by _Indiana_ or _Indy_, instead.

But Erin understood. "At ease…" She smiled. Why bother fighting it? If their lives paralleled a science fiction classic from a thousand years ago, so be it. "Mr. Spock."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I enjoyed that. I enjoyed that IMMENSELY. From Windy and Ricki fulfilling their roles as McCoy and Spock respectively to Erin's development under fire as a captain. My apologies if the sci-fi was not quite up to par—it's been _years_ since I've tried to write a scene like this. In my defense, it all looked really good in my mental camera.

And not only do we have a massive tribute to _Star Trek_ (including a mention of a Sulu!), but we also have tributes to Indiana Jones and _Stargate SG-1_! *cheers* The TV Tropes page is right—these shout-outs just keeping multiplying like the "jelly-squishies" in "Enemy Without a Face". ;D

…y'know, I think we could safely call this fic "BLoSC meets _Star _Trek meets girl power meets _Star Wars_." LOL.

Next up, some Buzz, some Mira, and maybe even some Warp. Stay tuned!

**Please review!**


	13. Chapter 12: Truths to Face

**Author's Note:**

Well, hey, lookit—here we are again! And I have a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT to make: **I AM FINALLY ON DEVIANTART**. Just Google "aleineskyfire deviantART," and cliiick! Please, do check me out! I've been waiting years for this! (Right now, it's just Sherlock Holmes, but WAIT - there will be BLoSC VERY SOON.)

Another big announcement: I believe that this story might actually have only a few chapters left—quite possible no more than ten. This is partly because there is only so much that I, with my limited experience, can write about The Academy. Expect to see significant time-jumps in the future. I'll probably end up doing some smaller, filler fics for certain time periods that just don't fall into the overall plot of _Breakaway_, such as Summer 3009, Summer 3010, and a collection of pieces on the various cadets and their dynamics that _really_ wouldn't fit into the overall plot.

**To my reviewers:**

Historian1912: Ooo, glad you loved it! You're a military nut? I never would have guessed! ;D (I was teasing, btw. =P) Hey, I am _always_ open to suggestions. Always, always. Ooo, that AU fic sounds deliciously dark. Go for it—I'd love to see it! There aren't enough deliberate AUs in this fandom. As for your Star Wars fic, I thought I got back with you on the issue of my feedback… I guess I didn't, but I could've sworn I did. Sorry about that. Okay, here's the deal: I've really been _tremendously_ busy lately, and my future review will take a fair bit of time to type. For the moment, I'll just say that the writing was good—you've really improved since that draft you sent me once—and leave it at that. The constructive crit will take a while to give. Thanks for the tip about Netflix, but… not only did I already know that, but Netflix just isn't an option right now. Thanks anyway. *hugs*

Queen S of Randomness 016: Hey, long time, no see! Thank you!

Ranger Nova: Hey, high-five on your instinct! Aw, I'm so glad you're enjoying this fic so much! *feels warm and fuzzy inside* Erin as Kirk would not have occurred to me just weeks ago, but the more I write it, the more it _does_ fit. I misplaced the apostrophe in T'ealc's name? *blushes* Sorry about that - I know better! Even though I've seen only a couple of _Stargate SG-1_ episodes, I love that show. And I like T'ealc, very much so. Ha-ha, you were thinking "Kobayashi Maru" - SCORE! =D I'm glad you like the chemistry between Erin and Ricki - I love Ricki a lot. There will indeed be a little bit of Beer in this chapter - subtle and understated, but Beer nonetheless! It's high time to return to my old shipping roots full stop! SQUEEE... Hurrah for Sherlock Holmes! That's awesome! Can't wait to see you pop up on my SH fics! =) And now that you've read the Canon, you MUST watch the Granada TV series _The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_, starring Jeremy Brett. You MUST. You can watch most episodes on YouTube if you look, but let me know if you need help, because I'll be _glad_ to!

**Disclaimer:** BLoSC, _Star Trek_, _The Lord of the Rings_, _Sherlock_, Sting, Jeremy Brett, and Benedict Cumberbatch ain't mine (much as I wish Jere… never mind). Zomega, Erin Frame, Windy Terrik, Ice Ellemore, and Ricki Sunflare most definitely _are_. Sherlock Holmes resides in the public domain, bless him.

**==Chapter XII==**

**Truths to Face**

_A thousand years, a thousand more,  
A thousand times a million doors to eternity  
I may have lived a thousand lives, a thousand times  
An endless turning stairway climbs  
To a tower of souls  
If it takes another thousand years, a thousand wars,  
The towers rise to numberless floors in space  
I could shed another million tears, a million breaths,  
A million names but only one truth to face  
_—"Thousand Years," Sting

Buzz Lightyear scanned the top page of dorm-team 76's progress report and smiled briefly.

"Your kid-sister's been doin' good," Commander Nebula commented. "Her and her team."

The evenness of Buzz's voice belied the burst of warmth within. "I see that." A photo slipped out from the pages; he picked it up and studied it. It was a shot from the training deck, Erin and her dorm-mate Rikaena Sunflare standing back-to-back, arms poised to shoot. But they were glancing over their shoulders at each other with the kind of grin that hinted at something secret they shared.

It could have been a snapshot of longtime partners.

"What is it?"

Buzz wordlessly handed Nebula the photo and leaned back in his seat. "Sir, what do we know about Cadet Sunflare?"

The Commander smirked. "Aside from her questioning you at the stadium?" At Buzz's solemn look, the smirk faded. "What is it, son?"

Buzz kneaded his temples and shook his head, long-lost banter and laughter echoing in his memories. "It's nothing, sir, really."

Nebula gave him a searching look, and Buzz knew he'd already lost this round. "You're thinkin' about Warp."

Sighing, Buzz conceded the battle. "Is it that obvious?"

Nebula folded his hands on his desk and leaned forward. "Son, I've seen you develop some pretty brotherly—even fatherly—feelings for a girl you felt responsible for. Now she's going and making new friendships outside your immediate sphere of influence, in the Academy, and it don't take a genius to make the connection to you 'n' Warp."

Buzz winced.

Nebula sighed. "From what I've seen, Cadet Sunflare's a doggone decent kid. _Wunderkind_, actually—have you seen her academic records? She'll probably end up being the smartest Ranger we've ever had, and our only Ph.D."

"Ph.D.? Are you serious?"

The Commander snorted his amusement. "Hard to believe, I know. But that's what she wants to work towards eventually, I guess." He leaned back in his chair again. "Son, you're just going to have to trust to your sis's good judgment. She's a smart cookie, and, if she and Ricki Sunflare have hit it off, good for them. Erin prob'ly needs a close friend right about now. She's pushing herself to meet your records."

"She's doing pretty darn well," Buzz admitted, looking over the file again.

"You bet. More'n that, there's talk floatin' around the Academy about Erin and Ricki."

Buzz looked up, brow furrowed in curiosity. "What kind of talk?"

Nebula smirked again. "Apparently, it started with their dorm-team and the team they do sims with, Team 95. They're building their own… I don't know what to call it—mythology, maybe? for themselves off of _Star Trek_."

Buzz frowned incredulously. "You're kidding."

"Nope. Erin's being billed as Captain Kirk, and Ricki's Mr. Spock. Windy Terrik plays Dr. McCoy to them to make up the trio, and the rest kind of fill in roles as needed."

Buzz laughed. "That's roleplaying, sir."

Nebula shrugged. "Whatever it is, it's building morale in the cadets. Other teams are doing it, too, although _Star Wars_ themed-teams seem to be more common than _Star Trek_ ones."

Buzz leaned back in his chair. "Huh."

"For all that, though, Teams 76 and 95 are getting to be very popular. Erin and Ricki make such a 'dynamic duo,' the other cadets can't help but see it and admire it."

Buzz shook his head in wonder, his mind wandering back to the past summer…

* * *

Her feet hit the ground, the impact knocking the breath out of her and nearly sending her to her knees. Struggling to draw air into oxygen-starved lungs, she somehow managed to straighten up and continue running.

On the infinitesimally thin edge of consciousness, her brain compared this experience to Luke Skywalker's Jedi training under Yoda in _The Empire Strikes Back_. But that was on the edge of consciousness, and the rest of her brain was basically shut down to allow her to operate on pure instinct.

Her lungs burned. Her muscles screamed.

She pressed on, her entire being focused on that one point of red in the distance—the start/finish marker.

A large log lay in her path. She gave it no more consideration than her body received. Her hands shot out seemingly of their own accord as her trembling legs tensed like spring coils. Hands pressed down on the log, the weight of the body abruptly thrown onto them. Legs swung through the air over the head, arced down. Feet touched _terra firma_ once more.

She kept on running.

Every inch of her exhausted body screamed for her to stop, but she was almost past the point of caring. Almost. But the red marker burned its image into her brain, beckoning to her. She had… had to finish… had to reach that marker.

Ten yards away. Nine. Eight. Seven.

She slipped, righted herself. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two…

She felt herself simply… dropping… Her right hand stretched out, touched the white line as her left hand came down to guard her head from concussion. She did it. It was done. She closed her eyes and pressed her flushed cheek against her scarcely cooler hand. Victory. If she could have wept, she would have, but no tears would come.

Then she heard the voice. The voice she both loved and despised. "That was good, cadet. On your feet, now."

Lifting one's head ought to be a simple action. People do it all the time. She found that she could not lift hers, even with the Latin blood in her fueling a formidable glare. "No," she rasped instead, still working on filling her lungs with much-needed oxygen.

"On your feet, cadet," the voice returned evenly. "That's an order."

For one moment, a black and frighteningly real hatred suffused her. How _dare_ he… Couldn't he see she couldn't do it? In that moment, the hatred was enough to lift her head, lock eyes with him, let him see how she regarded him.

Then the moment passed, and her head dropped, spinning, leaving her barely conscious. "I can't," she whispered simply. No emotion, just a simple statement of fact. She could not believe that she had any strength left even to push herself up into a sitting position, let alone to return all her weight to her two feet.

She heard a sigh above her head, saw white knees touch the dirt beside her, felt a gloveless hand on her shoulder, big and warm and gentle. "Erin, I told you that this wouldn't be easy, and you said you understood that. You had to know that it would mean going through times like this.

"You already know that getting up and going on can be the hardest thing you'll ever have to do. You remember your first few weeks here. You remember how hard they were on you. Sometimes, being a hero just means that… that when your brain thinks you can't take any more, when your body says you can't, you push yourself back up, and you keep going. It can make a difference, Erin. It can make all the difference in the galaxy.

"You are a _Space Ranger_, Erin Frame. The fire that's going to hold you on to keep going is what makes you a Ranger. Now get up and show it to the universe."

The hand came down to rest, open and inviting, beside her own. Her gaze trailed up the white-clad arm to the face she had come to know and love so well. It creased into a smile, a smile that told her more than his words ever could.

Though she trembled all over, she reached up for his hand, closed hers slowly around it…

…and stood.

* * *

"Buzz?"

Buzz's mind snapped back to the present. "Ah, sorry, sir." He grinned sheepishly. "I was just remembering something."

The Commander grunted. "Yeah, well, do it on your own time, huh? We really need to get through these evaluations before Monday."

Buzz nodded and picked the Team 76 file back up. "Yes, sir."

* * *

"I miss her."

"Erin?"

Mira nodded mournfully. "I got along just fine on my own for a year, but now that I'm alone again, the apartment feels too empty." She frowned, feeling silly. "D'you know what I mean?"

Buzz smiled sadly. "I do." He gave her a brotherly pat on the shoulder. "Buck up, Ranger Nova. In a couple of years, she'll be out there with us. Not to mention, there's always the holidays and summer vacation."

"Yeah," Mira sighed. It wasn't enough. "Craters, I can't wait."

Buzz gave her a rueful grin. "Me, too." He moved off for _42_, Booster and XR joining him.

She watched them a moment before following. Vidphone calls every weekend weren't enough—in the few months they'd lived together, she and Erin had gotten to be like sisters. She'd gotten used to having another person around the apartment, and she'd enjoyed it. She and Erin were a lot alike, and she'd never had that with another girl before.

She missed Buzz coming by, too. Before Erin had moved in, he'd _never_ come to her apartment, and he hadn't been there since Erin moved back out. She missed that. She'd enjoyed his visits.

She still missed Romac, still hoped to see him again someday, still hoped that maybe he'd quit bounty hunting, but… She couldn't deny that she had enjoyed dancing with Buzz at that dinner party, as weird as it had seemed at the outset. She remembered feeling safe, relaxed, warm, content… She'd never felt that way before with anyone—not even Romac.

Sometimes, she wondered. She wondered if Buzz ever thought about it. She wondered if it meant anything to him, or if his little performance had been purely emotion-of-the-moment.

Mira hoped it meant something. With all her heart, she hoped.

* * *

Considering Warp's escalating rap sheet—weapons smuggling via Keno Kentrix and theft of the Matter Transport Ray included—one would think that he had not changed any more than his former partner. But soft brown eyes and three little words, "I forgive you," haunted him throughout that summer and now the fall. When he was being fully honest with himself, he had to admit that he had already changed, just a little.

Erin did not email again after giving him her forgiveness, and he respected her decision. But something in him ached a little. He hadn't known 'til now that it was possible to miss something he'd barely had in the first place.

Warp sank into his desk chair with a sigh. Life couldn't let him be for one little bit, could it? Following Keno Kentrix's arrest, it hadn't taken long for others to step in and sweep up the pieces of his organization before Star Command could do so. And it had come as no surprise that Zomega was the one who truly made out like a bandit, stepping in and taking over Kentrix's invaluable network of contacts.

The woman alternated among jobs, including bodyguard, smuggler, and bounty hunter, but her primary and favorite job dealt in data. In other words, she was an information broker, the best in the business.

Zurg had not been happy about Zomega's takeover—in fact, had been so _not_ happy that he even scribbled "UnHappy" in a memo. But he couldn't control Zomega any more than Warp could, a fact which made him UnHappier.

"Craters, Aunt Z," Warp muttered, kicking a file drawer shut, "you sure know how to make our lives difficult." He slumped in his seat and let his mind wander…

* * *

He lay on the gym floor, focusing on his breathing. In-out, in-out, in-out…

If his Academy classmates thought _their_ physical training was tough, they had no idea. _His_ training under Zurg made the paramilitary Star Command Academy look like daycare. Okay, so it wasn't really that bad, but it was bad enough.

He pressed his cheek against the cool metal floor, eyes drifting closed.

He liked Buzz well enough, but honestly, the other boy just really got on his nerves sometimes. Just as well, of course, since Warp couldn't let himself get too close to anyone. That would complicate life too much.

The others were okay. Rocket annoyed him the most—even more than Buzz. Ty, at least, was an all right guy, despite his seemingly endless string of bad luck. Janet wasn't the only girl in the class, but she was absolutely the prettiest—therefore, the object of every self-respecting male cadet's admiration. Thus far, the blonde had rejected every single date she'd been offered, and she'd gotten offers from all the guys.

Oh, well. Warp would convince her to go out with him eventually. One thing they enjoyed together was verbal sparring—did it every chance they got, kinda like Han Solo and Princess Leia. Drove the others crazy.

Despite all the rules and regs, Star Command wasn't such a terrible place. Warp might have been interested had he not had other affiliations. But he did, so the point was moot. Right?

Footsteps echoed suddenly in the gym, and he scrambled to his feet… Only to meet the knowing grin of one of Planet Z's most interesting inhabitants, Zomega. "Lying down on the job, kid?" she teased, planting her hands on her hips.

"Nah," he said easily, relaxing. "Making sure that the floor stayed at the right temperature."

"The right temperature?" she echoed, lifting one elegant eyebrow.

"Best I could come up with on short notice," he shrugged.

"Gotta do better than that, hotshot."

"I'll work on it. Say, Aunt Z, what brings you here?"

She gave him a glare at the nickname he'd bestowed upon her. "I'm here to practice my katas. Care to join me?"

"Nope." Warp ambled over to one side of the gym and gathered his things together in his duffel. "Gotta get back to campus."

Zomega nodded, hanging up her dark grey jacket on one of the racks. Warp tried hard not gawk at her, but it was tough. Despite the fact that the woman was old enough to be his mother, she looked not much older than he himself was—and her black-and-violet bodysuit showcased a terrific figure. Her eyes caught his, and he blushed and looked away, embarrassed to be caught staring. She shook her head, dusty violet hair swishing from side to side. "Don't even think about it, kid."

"I wasn't!"

"Uh-huh," she said, unconvinced. "Better get going."

"Okay, okay…" But he didn't move. He wasn't looking in her direction, anymore—he just… didn't move.

Zomega noticed. "Something on your mind?"

"Huh? Oh, uh… different stuff. You know, Academy, and here, and Buzz…"

Something indecipherable flashed across the half-Zetan's face, gone before Warp could figure it out. "Mm," she said noncommittally, beginning to perform stretches.

Sighing, Warp flopped back down on the floor near her. "Do you ever feel… I dunno, overdrawn?"

"Sometimes." She gave him a sympathetic look—well, as sympathetic as she could, with one normal violet eye and one huge red cybernetic replacement. "I bet you do, huh?"

"Yeah." He leaned forward into a perfect moping position.

"It'll get better," she told him. "You learn to cope, you know?"

"I guess."

"No 'guess'—I'm right." She winked at him.

His expression didn't brighten.

She sighed and moved over to enfold him in a hug from behind. It didn't feel all that awkward—Warp was 6'1" and stocky, but Zomega was a full three inches taller. "I wish Zurg wouldn't put you through this," she murmured. "You're too young to be a spy."

"I can handle it," he murmured back, twisting around to return the hug. "I'm just tired, is all."

Twenty years later, he was still tired.

* * *

"He's so cute."

"Shh, watch!"

"But he _is!_"

"Ice!"

Windy snickered at Erin's distress. "Erin, chill pill."

Erin growled, not deigning to remove her gaze from the video screen. Ricki laughed softly. "Lay off, Win."

"But she gets so uptight about—"

"It's called 'being a fangirl,' something I'm sure you wouldn't know anything about."

"Why, you green-blooded hob—"

Erin lost it. "WINDY BERTHA TERRIK!"

Windy sunk down her seat. "Sheesh."

Erin moaned despairingly. So what if she'd watched these episodes several times before? The show was an obsession. Nobody likes people messing with their obsessions.

"Craters, and he has to be, what, old enough to be the father of any of us?" Ice whispered, her turquoise eyes still glued to the screen. More specifically, to Mr. Tall, Dark, And Handsome moving with feline grace across the screen.

Erin was about ready to cry. "Yes," she groaned. "Ice, _please_. I'm _begging_ you. BE QUIET!"

After that, Erin really did get her peace and quiet, and she was able to enjoy the rest of Jeremy Brett's performance as Sherlock Holmes without any interruptions. As the credits rolled, she leaned back in her chair with a contented sigh. "Golly, he was so cute. Even when he got older and heavier, he was still _good-lookin'_."

"Yeah," Ricki sighed. "He was sure one of the best Sherlocks _ever_."

"You said it."

"I think I'm in love," Ice said wonderingly.

Erin and Ricki shared a laugh. "You and about a _billion_ women since this show was first released," Erin grinned. "I know it was practically love at first sight for me."

Ricki's violet eyes were glazed-over. "Mm, yeeesss, my preciousss…"

"Oy vey," Windy muttered. "Sherlockians."

"Never say that at a Sherlockian convention, Win," Erin grinned. "'Specially not the _Gillette to Brett_. Shee-veesh, you'd get clobbered with calabash pipes to kingdom come."

Ricki snickered. "The idea is not without merit."

Windy glared at her. "Green. Blooded. Hob. _Goblin_."

"Aww, now that's just _cruel_," Erin crooned, nearly ready to double over giggling.

"If Ricki's a green-blooded hobgoblin, what does that make me?" was Ice's innocent and entirely serious query.

"Um, you can be a _blue_-blooded hobgoblin," Erin suggested.

"Whoever heard of a blue-blooded hobgoblin?" Windy wanted to know.

"Okay, okay, split the difference—blue-blooded space elf."

Ricki groaned and cast herself back on her cot. "Ai-yi-yi." She folded her hands over her stomach and stared up at the ceiling. "Erin?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't suppose you want to watch Sherlock Holmes in the _21__st_ century."

Erin grinned. "You mean that Benedict Cumberbatch guy you keep trying to get me to watch?"

"Yup."

"Ah, sure, why not. Tomorrow's Saturday, anyway, so we could even pull an all-nighter."

"An all-nighter with Sherlock Holmes." Windy made a face. "Count me out."

"You are no _fun_, Windy Terrik," Ricki said firmly.

"Sure I am! Gimme a Western or a sci-fi flick and just _see_ how much fun I am."

"The rest of us are in a Sherlock Holmes mood; therefore, you're outnumbered," Ice pointed out reasonably.

"Meh." Windy stretched out on her cot and buried her head beneath her pillow.

* * *

The first, feature-length episode of _Sherlock_ kept Erin enthralled from beginning to end. However, after the credits had finished, she begged off doing another episode in favor of doing some long-overdue emails. They'd been watching shows all night. Ricki agreed affably enough, and she and Ice took to 3-D backgammon while Windy read in bed.

Erin was finishing up an email to XR when a memory played itself before her mind's eye.

_XR wheeled over to their group, bearing a camcorder pointed in Zurg's direction. "Hey, guys!"_

_"_Camcorder_, XR?" Buzz asked._

_"Hey, this'll be worth a _fortune_ when I go to the press," XR said defensively._

_"A fortune?" Warp echoed, obviously interested. "Can I have a copy?"_

_"Sure!" XR grinned maliciously. "For a small fee, of course."_

_"Of course," Warp repeated dryly._

_"Miniscule, you understand."_

_"Oh, surely."_

_"Can't give these things away for free, you know."_

_"Oh, I agree completely. Moments like these are priceless."_

That had occurred during the fallout between herself and Warp. She wasn't angry anymore—she'd forgiven him and she'd meant it—but she still felt a little ache in her chest whenever she thought about him. Not because he had played with her heart, whether intentionally or not, but because he was the bad guy, the top dog in the criminal world, the man who'd betrayed her brother…

Because he was lost. He was so lost.

It hurt.

She thought about him often. She wasn't sure whether it was fangirlism, infatuation, or genuine, abiding affection, but he was often in her thoughts and in her prayers. She wondered if her prayers for him were ever making a difference in his life.

She hadn't emailed him since May. Sighing, she clicked the "New Message" button and stared at the blank page for a moment. Then she typed _luv2sh00t_ into the "To" box.

Surely it couldn't hurt just to check up on him.

_I still love you  
I still want you  
A thousand times the mysteries unfold themselves  
Like galaxies in my head  
On and on the mysteries unwind themselves  
Eternities still unsaid  
Till you love me_

—Ibid.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

This actually turned out to be something of a two-part chapter (my first such, ever), because this one was just getting too long. (Chapter 8, or site chapter 9, worked out as a single, self-contained chapter _only_ because a significant part of the word count was the songs—otherwise, that might have been split, too.) The reason this chapter turned out to be so long was because of some flashback material I added: one flashback from the original fic, _Watermark_, and the other from an unpublished Warp one-shot.

And, ha! less _Star Trek_ this time. At least, not so much that you could choke on it, this chapter. The whole girls-watching-Sherlock-Holmes scene was fairly pointless—it was just to build characterization for the girls and build their dynamics. (For the record, at least _hundreds_ of women have fallen in love with Jeremy Brett's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes since 1984, including yours truly.) The other show the girls watched is the BBC's modern-day adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, _Sherlock_, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Since the show was first released Summer 2010 and Erin came into the 31st century from _Spring_ _2009_, she would not have even known its existence unless she was doing some serious Sherlockian studying after her time-travel. Oh, and _Gillette to Brett_ is a real Sherlockian convention.

By the way, I hope that the Beer fans reading this story enjoyed the little bit of shipping in the Mira scene. It was short, I know, but I don't want to do anything any more major than that Convenient Slow Dance just yet. In my personal canon timeline, Team Lightyear hasn't been together for a full year and a half yet, so I'm being careful with my timing and romantic development. It'll happen, but you'll have to be patient.

Next up, the conclusion to this chapter two-parter, which will be very Warp/Erin-centric. Stay tuned!

_**Please review!**_


	14. Chapter 13: Truths to Face, Part II

**Author's Note:**

If you haven't been to my dA profile, you really should check it out—I have got quite a bit of BLoSC stuff up there. More specifically, _For Good_ universe stuff. ;D Plus, for you Beer fans, there is now a Buzz-Mira Fans group on dA, courtesy of yours truly! Please, check it out, do!

**To my reviewers:**

Kgirl: Thanks very much! Enjoy the bit of Beer in this chapter! =)

Historian1912: True, the chapter _did_ wander. Sorry about that. =( Heh, OCs were barely even an issue until Chapter 10—I guess that whether it's good or bad depends on who you ask. A lot of writers from any given fandom would say that OCs making up half the cast is a bad thing. It was purely unintentional on my part, and I didn't even realize it until you pointed it out! ^_^ Take that bit about "constructive crit" as a good thing—an opportunity to learn is always a good thing! *crickets chirp* Riiiight? ;D *Jeremy Brett voice* And, my _dear_ fellow, you possess the most deplorable proclivity for self-aimed, negative hyperbole! *normal voice* In other words, you kick yourself too hard! The best authors didn't start out as NY Best Sellers right off the bat, and neither did I, so allow yourself the room to mess up and learn from it! I can't tell you how embarrassed I am now about stuff I wrote three years ago! Wow, M-rating? *whistles* That ought to be interesting… God bless!

Ranger-Nova: Hum, one of these years I'll watch Stargate, SG-1 and Atlantis, all the way through… _and_ Babylon 5… _and_ Star Trek:TOS and TNG… *sighs* I will. It could just take some time. Let me know if you can find Granada anywhere! If you have library access, that's one place to look—my own library has one of Granada's feature-length episodes. Also, check yard sales as the weather warms up—last summer, I ended up getting three one-episode videos for $1.50! I was on Cloud Nine! _Sherlock_ is indeed terrific, and Benedict Cumberbatch is awesome… but I do have moral reservations about the show, sadly. Even so, Benny is one of my favorite Holmeses—and, yes, I do know about his being in the next Star Trek film. That's so cool! Now, as far as the actual review goes… ;D So glad you loved this chapter! Oh, if you only knew how badly I wanted to make Buzz and Mira's relationship a Hollywood romance—i.e. more or less overnight! Taking it slow and realistic is practically _torture_… which is why I've decided to pick Ships 50 back up and maybe play with it on dA. But I'm glad you like the realism! And saying that your favorite parts of the chapter were the Warp parts made me so happy! That flashback was a really old piece that I've waited a long time to reveal, so it was nice that you liked it so much. Also, I'm very, _very_ happy that you like Zomega! If Erin's the OC that I love, Zomega's the one I'm proud of. The story _will_ be continued past the end of this fic—this is only part 1 of _For Good_, after all! So perk up and smile—there's a _lot_ more to come! God bless!

**==Chapter XIII==**

**Truths to Face, Part II**

_A million roads, a million fears  
A million suns, ten million years of uncertainty  
I could speak a million lies, a million songs,  
A million rights, a million wrongs in this balance of time  
But if there was a single truth, a single light  
A single thought, a singular touch of grace  
Then following this single point , this single flame,  
The single haunted memory of your face  
_—"A Thousand Years," Sting

It was a startling contrast. It wasn't just the very obvious, very basic division of Good and Evil, or human and half-human. It was idealistic youth and cynical experience. It was a child of a planet closer by far to its roots and a child of a culture-blurred galaxy. It was a woman who believed in liberty and a man who worked for the galaxy's most blatant tyrant.

The disparities should have been insurmountable.

Erin E. Frame did not believe in impossibilities.

As she typed out her email, she still was unsure of her feelings. But she wrote from her heart, telling Warp as much as she dared without giving away dangerous information, whether of Star Command or of her uncertain emotions. She finished with an old Irish blessing:

_May the road rise to meet you._

_May the wind be always at your back._

_May the sun shine warm upon your face,_

_The rains fall soft upon your fields, and,_

_Until we meet again,_

_May God hold you in the palm of His hand._

* * *

Warp was stunned to receive an email from Erin. He was further stunned to see it written in long, cozy fashion. He sat staring at it for a long time.

Why did this girl _bother_ him like this? It wasn't the infatuation he'd had with other women—he knew well what that felt like, and he didn't care to go through it again. But there was something about Erin Frame that got under his skin and just would not stop bugging him.

And… if he read between the lines… she still liked him. As in, _liked_ him. As in, a _lot_. As in, they were both in serious trouble if he didn't try to put an end to this _now_.

Knowing what he had to do only made his chest ache.

* * *

Mira was strangely restless past midnight Sunday morning, and she was roaming the kitchen and living room aimlessly when her door opened. "Erin!"

The human girl looked up from the keycard slot, startled. "Mira! I'm sorry—I didn't think you'd still be awake." She closed the door and stepped into the kitchen.

Mira pushed a stray strand of strawberry-blonde hair out of her face. "Bad night," she said dryly. "Looks like it's going around. What're you doing here?"

Erin leaned against the counter. "I didn't think I'd get any sleep tonight, so I thought I'd go out wandering. After I flagged down a bus to this side of town, I got out aaand—" she shrugged—"I ended up here." It was the first time Mira had seen her former roommate in two and a half months, and Erin looked as if she was already filling out and hardening up into a woman.

Mira wasn't sure whether she liked that or not.

"Coffee?" she offered.

"Sure, that'd be great."

"Okay. Just a sec." Mira started to fix the coffee. "You're keeping your hair short."

"Oh, yeah." Erin laughed self-consciously, her right hand instinctively raking through the dark mass of curls. "I just don't want to deal with it being long right now."

Mira nodded, switching on the coffee maker. "Good thinking—you have no idea how much my hair got in the way when I was in the Academy." Erin giggled briefly, and Mira turned around to face her, palms spread out behind her on the counter. "So. What's up?"

"Mmm." Erin pushed her long, dark bangs out of her eyes. "Love and war, I guess."

"Awww." Mira pulled a face sympathetically. "And all's _not_ fair."

Erin exhaled explosively. "Nope."

"Warp?"

"Yeah." The younger girl shoved her hands into the pockets of her Academy jersey. "I couldn't stop thinking about him, so I sent him kind of a longish email last night—nothing that would give anything important away, y'know, but just letting him know how I was doing. That kind of thing."

Mira nodded.

Erin looked down at her feet. "Anyway, he sent me an email back this afternoon. It was like a written version of the I-think-we-should-break-up speech, and now I'm trying to figure out if he really meant it or if he just doesn't want to deal with…" She looked up, brushed at her eyes, shook her head.

Mira could definitely understand. "Aw, honey…" She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Erin.

"It's so crazy," Erin said thickly, her head now resting on Mira's shoulder. "Why'd I have to fall for the galaxy's Most Wanted?"

"I don't think anybody ever said love was _sane_," Mira said gently, rubbing Erin's back. She pulled back and smiled ruefully. "Look at me. In love with a bounty hunter I hadn't even seen since I was sixteen until a few months ago."

Erin let out a sound that was half a laugh, half a sob. "Anything else you want to admit to, there?"

"Ooo, I just _knew_ you were going to pull that card," Mira growled without genuine irritation. "Okay, fine—uncertain of my feelings for my own captain. Good enough?"

Erin gave a watery grin. "Good enough to keep any Beer shipper hoping."

Mira growled in feigned exasperation and threw up her hands before going to grab two coffee mugs. "You're incorrigible."

"Ain't it the truth?"

Mira felt Erin's smile disappear. "What?" She turned to face her again.

Erin shook her head. "I said I was trying to figure out if Warp really means it or…" She growled at herself. "Why _shouldn't_ he mean it? _Doggone_ it, why can't I accept that he's so different that _I'm kidding myself to think otherwise!_ Opposing moralities aside, we're from two very different times and cultures, and he's twenty years older than me! Craters, why can't I _get a life?_"

Mira blinked. "M'kay, whoa there, girl—stop kicking yourself. For starters, I hate to encourage your 'shipping' further, but you _do_ realize there's eighteen years between me and Buzz?"

Erin sniffed and brushed at her eyes again, not meeting Mira's gaze. "Yeah," she muttered.

"All right. For another thing, let's say that Warp was back with Star Command, was a good guy again—which, I might add, Buzz seems to think _isn't_ impossible. Why wouldn't he like you?"

Erin's reply was so bitter that Mira could hardly believe this was the same girl she'd lived with for several months: "What's there to like?"

Mira's already-large eyes widened. "You're kidding, right?"

Erin gave her a look.

Mira's eyebrows shot up. "Wow. You really think you're…" She blinked again and shook her head. "Fine, you wanna be that way? M'kay, look, you're pretty, for one thing. You really are. Brown eyes have gotten a lot rarer in humans since your time, so you have no idea how attractive just your _eyes_ are."

Erin snorted, but Mira held up a finger. "Second, you're _talented_. Craters, you're so artistic! You can draw and write like a pro, you can play the piano and the guitar really beautifully, and you can sing both soprano and contralto. That's a big deal, and you know it.

"Third, you're just a fun person to hang out with! You're so sweet, and you're funny and smart and knowledgeable and witty…" Mira shook her head. "You've got all that going for you, and you wonder why Warp would like you? Man, girlfriend, you've got some _serious_ identity issues!"

Erin ran both hands through her hair and sighed. "Do you really think that? Everything you just said?"

Mira almost gasped then, because memory struck her like lightning. Another young woman just getting into the Academy, floundering alone in a very foreign world and thinking that all that made her special was her Royal blood and her ghosting powers. She understood very well how Erin felt. "Yes," she said gently. "Yes, I do."

Erin lowered her head again, massaging her neck with both hands. "I don't know what to do," she murmured.

"Maybe… maybe it's time to step back," Mira said slowly, carefully. "I mean… I mean, I know you already did that, but—but apparently it wasn't far enough, y'know? I mean, you emailed him, so…"

Erin held up a hand, effectively cutting off what Mira knew was just the start of a nervous ramble. "I getcha." She sighed again. "I know I should—I really do. I just…" She shook her head and growled. "Doggone it, why is this so hard? I don't want to be in love with the galaxy's Most Wanted!"

Mira smirked, not unkindly. "Hey, kiddo, nobody ever said love was easy. Like I said before, look at me—and you think _you've_ got issues?"

Erin laughed slightly at Mira's bantering tone. "Yeah, I guess I wouldn't want to be in love with two guys at the same time."

"Erin Elisheba!"

Erin threw up her hands and backed away at Mira's murderous glare. "Shee-veesh, I'm glad you don't have Zetan eyes!"

"Yeeaaah, be glad. Be very, _very_ glad."

_That_ set Erin off, her giggles definitely tinged with hysteria. "Sorry!" she gasped between giggles. "I just…"

"'S'okay," Mira assured her, trying not to double over, herself. "Hooo boy."

"I think I'm going crazy," said Erin, half-despairingly.

"I _know_ you are!"

Erin only laughed even harder. Mira was laughing pretty hard herself as she finally poured out the coffee and set it down on the little table. "Wanna pull an all-nighter?"

"Sure." Erin calmed down enough to pick up her mug. "I know an all-night coffee shop near the Academy—they set up there to cater to the cadets. Closer'n Cosmo's, and all that."

"Oh, I know that place! The one with the TV room—it's on Sussex Drive."

"That's the one."

Mira grinned over the rim of her mug. "Sounds like a plan to me."

* * *

"So, how was your visit with Mira?"

Erin whirled and planted her hands on her hips. "Rikaena Amata Sunflare!"

"Eesh, don't _do_ that!" Ricki grimaced. "I _hate_ my full name!"

"Well, how did you know I visited Mira?" Erin demanded.

Windy and Ice hung back on the park pathway but watched with interest.

As Ricki took a seat on a nearby bench, she gave Erin a faintly superior look worthy of Sherlock Holmes. "Erin, _please_. You leave our dorm in the middle of the night and return with a strand of red hair on your jacket—having no friends besides Team Lightyear _off_-campus, I might add—and you wonder how I know you visited Mira?" The Derriyan girl shook her head and said in a credible impression of Jeremy Brett's ultra-sophisticated British accent: "_Watson_, you disappoint me."

Erin couldn't help giggling. "How _absurdly_ simple!" she rejoined in an equally credible impression of David Burke's Watson.

Windy groaned. "Aww, man, not Jeremy Brett _again!_" Then the Southern girl's face changed as if a light bulb had clicked on over her head—Erin had long since learned to beware that expression. "At least _Robert Downey, Jr._ had some _action_ in his adaptations!"

Ricki's violet eyes went wide, and she shook her head convulsively as she turned to face Windy. "W-w-w-w-w-_what?_ _What_ did you say?"

Windy grinned devilishly and leaned forward. "Robert. Downey. _Junior_."

Windy got the explosion she had obviously been aiming for. "_How can you stand that guy?_ He is _not_ Sherlock Holmes! He's ridiculous! He's not fit to polish _Benedict Cumberbatch's_ boots, and Benedict Cumberbatch _did blatant fanservice in __Sherlock__'s second season!_ You just… he… I… _Aaaaargh!_" Ricki was holding her head as if it hurt and writhing on the bench.

Ice's and Windy's eyes were wide. "_Fascinating_," said Ice, totally innocent of quoting Spock.

"Wow," was all Windy could say.

Erin glared at her before moving forward to lift Ricki up. "Okay, Rick, deep breaths."

"Right, deep breaths, ho-kay…"

Erin shook her head. "He's really all that bad?"

"_Yes_. Craters, I'll take _Peter Cushing_ before I take RDJ!"

"Wo-how," Erin laughed. "That's pretty serious, girlfriend."

"Yeah, well, _I'm_ pretty serious." Ricki relaxed and sighed. "I like Jude Law well enough, but… oooo…" She shuddered.

Windy smirked. "Well, at least we know her… what'd you call it, Erin? Berserk button? To push her into a killing fury? It's Robert Downey, Jr.!"

Ricki pinned the Southern girl with a withering glare of contempt. "Yeah. Say that name again and I'll _show_ you 'killing fury'. Like _this_." She pantomimed twisting and snapping a person's neck.

Windy eyed her speculatively. "Y'know, I don't think you're strong enough to do that yet."

"Windy Bertha," Ricki said in an even, no-nonsense tone. She mimed zipping her lips together. "Or." She slashed her fingers across her throat.

"You'd best stop, Win," Ice advised, throwing an arm around Windy's shoulders. "I don't want to lose you to Ricki's 'Berserk Button'." She looked up at Erin. "What does 'berserk' mean, anyway?"

* * *

Team 95 was watching their partner team from a distance. "Girls," Cody muttered.

"They are odd creatures," Eda-Ji-Kep agreed.

"Wonder what got Ricki so riled?" Clutch mused.

Indy shrugged. "Whatever it is, must've been big. She's not exactly the type to pitch fits, y'know what I mean?"

Cody nodded. "_Veridad_. She's pretty smart, for a girl."

Indy snorted and turned to his dorm-mate. "She's pretty smart for a _person_, period," he corrected, his voice heavy with irony. "You _do_ know she's already got her Masters in astrophysics, right?"

Cody shrugged. "_Sí_. Well, _mis amigos_, are we going to take on the sims, or are we going to stand around watching _las chicas_ all day?"

Clutch stared at the Spanish boy. "You have _such_ a way with words!"

"One of these days, he's going to say something chauvinistic like that in front of the 'chicas'," Indy added. "And I, mm, am laying odds on Erin or Windy making a crater outta him."

"Ooo, I'd _love_ to see Cody as a crater!" Clutch grinned gleefully.

Eda-Ji-Kep frowned. "How could this process of turning Cody-Ric-Ardo into a crater be accomplished?"

The other boys groaned. "Ice ain't the only alien in our group who needs a heavy dose of galactic culture," Clutch moaned without a trace of irony at his own non-human status.

"Let's just… go get those sims," Indy muttered, hurrying his team away. He cast one last glance over his shoulder, however. Erin and Windy were tussling—between Erin's Scotch-Irish/Spanish-Jewish temper and Windy's tomboy-ness, he wasn't a bit surprised. Yup, those two could _definitely_ make a crater out of Cody.

He almost wished he could see it happen.

* * *

Mira yawned and waved half-heartedly at her teammates as she punched in her timecard Monday morning. "Hiya, fellas."

"Morning, Mira!" Booster said brightly.

"Morning, Sleepy Beauty!" XR chirped, giving her a cheesy grin.

Buzz raised an eyebrow. "Trouble sleeping, Ranger Nova?"

"Sort of," Mira admitted. Buzz gestured for the team to leave the lounge, and she explained as they walked to their docking pad. "Recovering from the weekend. Erin and I were super restless Saturday night, so we decided to pull an all-nighter at Ruby's."

"Ruby's?" Buzz echoed.

Mira blushed. "That's right, you weren't, it wasn't… ah, it's only been around for a few years. Coffee shop near the Academy. Nice place."

"You spent some time with Erin?" said Booster. "Aw, I wish I could've been with you! I miss Erin!"

"Me, too," XR chimed. "She was my partner in… uh…" His voice trailed off at The Look Buzz was giving him. "My partner in creating conspiracy theories! Yeah!"

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Buzz muttered.

Mira snickered.

Booster frowned. "But, XR, I thought you called Erin your partner in—" here XR growled and kicked Booster in the leg—"crime."

"D'argh!"

Buzz merely traded a weary glance with Mira.

* * *

It was at the end of the day when Buzz finally asked Mira about Saturday night. Booster had shuffled off with a wave and XR had wheeled off to the Science Bay muttering something about calling a girl, and the captain and 2IC of Team Lightyear were left alone in the lounge. "So, what was wrong with Erin?" Buzz asked without preamble.

Mira should've known that was coming. "Oh. Just—just, y'know, nerves and…"

Buzz gave her the "yeah, sure" look.

Mira dropped her gaze. "Okay, so, it was more than that." She sighed. "I think Erin's going through some major self-doubt right now, for one thing."

"Self-doubt?" Buzz laughed incredulously. "I've seen her grades—she's magnificent!"

Mira's head shot up with a frown. "It's not just that, Buzz!" She raked a hand through her two-toned red hair. "She doesn't see herself as being worth very much as a person!"

Buzz blinked. "You're… kidding. …Erin? We're talking about the same Erin, right? The incorrigible kid who likes to con me into stuff and makes me end up enjoying it? _That_ Erin?"

Mira sighed again. "Yes, Buzz, that Erin." She shook her head. "I know how she feels—I went through pretty much the same thing in the Academy. I guess we just have to hope that her friends help her ride it out."

"Yeah. Huh." Buzz shook his head as if to clear it. "Well, was that all? I mean, self-doubt doesn't seem like it's so big a deal that you can't go to sleep over it."

Mira bit her lip, wondering if she should say.

"Ranger…"

Craters. "Buzz… it's kind of private."

"Private? I'm her _brother_, for star's sakes." His blue eyes studied her face. "It was Warp, wasn't it?" Heh, let nobody say the man was entirely unperceptive.

Mira looked down again. "Yeah, it was Warp," she murmured. "I think she's really torn-up over him right now." She glanced back up—Buzz was looking sad and thoughtful and totally sympathetic. "Buzz, do you think there's a chance? Of Warp coming back, I mean?"

Buzz exhaled explosively and rubbed the back of his neck. "Craters, I don't know that I'm the best person to be asked that question, Mira. I'd like to say 'yes,' but I'm biased. I just don't know." He glanced aside. "Maybe… maybe if Warp had a really big reason to come back… a really strong pull… he could do it. Maybe."

Mira nodded slowly. "Figured you'd say something like that."

Buzz grinned tiredly at her. "Am I that predictable?"

Mira grinned back. "You really are, _mon capitan_. Well, I'd better hit the starlanes. G'night, Buzz."

He nodded. "See you tomorrow, Mira."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Yes, the "make a crater out of" was a homage to _Toy Story_. I've always loved this: "Buzz, I would _love_ to see you try. 'Course, I'd love to see you as a crater."

Basically, the back-to-back scenes with the two teams are just for character-building. For one thing, I thought it was about time we saw Ricki lose her cool—for another thing, we need to see a bit more of Indy, Cody, Clutch, and Eda-Ji-Kep. When you get right down to it, this entire chapter was character development. Warp and Erin and their relationship, seeing Erin through Mira's eyes, Mira's own romantic issues, Mira and Buzz, and the cadets. It was fun.

Which reminds me—the whole Ricki-losing-it thing was inspired by my watching, for the first time, said RDJ film about two weeks ago. I actually enjoyed it… once I'd gotten over RDJ and decided that I wasn't going to regard the film as being Sherlock Holmes. Once I was watching purely as an action movie in its own right, I could enjoy it. But some of the things Ricki said were some of the comments I made to my mom. ;D (For that matter, Erin's enormous self-doubt was inspired by current emotional upheavals in the life of yours truly.)

I really loved writing Team Lightyear again, even if only briefly—it's been such a long time! And I really loved writing the little conversation between Buzz and Mira. It was just _fun_.

No idea when I'll be updating again. I have a vague idea about approaching the holiday season, but we'll see. In the meantime, please check my profile for a brand-new crossover between BLoSC and _Sherlock Holmes in the 22__nd__ Century_!

_**Please review!**_


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